SGU: Guiding Light
by Sage1988
Summary: In the aftermath of the Attack on Icarus Base, one of the survivors on Destiny must find herself and navigate the problems in front of her to save both herself and the others, even those from within. OC character AU story
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

_I do not own Stargate Universe _

**Chapter 1 – It began on Icarus…**

Eli had just arrived on Icarus Base and was being shown the bustling mess hall by Lieutenant Scott when he noticed a girl about his age sitting at a table by herself eating some steak with salad. She was nice on the eyes he thought straight away, her fiery red hair tied back into a ponytail which fell to her mid back, exposing a finely bone structured face with a pale neck.

While Scott went to get something to eat, Eli walked over to her and she looked up; her eyes were a pale sky blue which felt warm and teamed with an innate intelligence and humour as she smiled with her small bow shaped mouth

"Hey you must be the boy genius, different in the real world isn't it?" the girl asked warmly to which he smiled back and sat opposite her

"Yeah, I just yesterday I was playing a game, now I'm in outer space" Eli said to her and she chuckled

"You're telling me. I was just on my way back home at midnight when some woman from the SGC walks along the street and tells me she has an opportunity for me, I ignore her and keep walking so the next thing I know I' am beamed up" she said and Eli said

"The same, wonder if that's their standard recruitment policy" he joked and she laughed slightly at his humour "I'm Eli Wallace" Eli introduced himself extending his hand which she took with a gentle but firm shake

"Claire Williams" she said in a friendly tone, finishing her steak and putting her knife and fork down "I'm Rush's assistant" she told him with some distain creeping into her voice, Eli could tell immediately that she disliked the scientist whom had recruited him

"Really, must be interesting" Eli said with some naivety, still not knowing what the older scientist was like

"I study the geology of the planet and that's about it. Rush won't let me work on the ninth chevron, prefers to do things himself. But the IOA wants someone else to a have a go, so that person is you" Claire said with a little boredom "But you'll figure it. I know you will" she told him with a friendly smile, making Eli blush slightly with the praise

Then a female marine walked up "Mind if I join you?" she asked

Claire looked up at the marine and said "Sure Vanessa, have a seat" she gestured to the other empty chair on the side of the table and the brunette slid into the seat

"Vanessa meet our new resident genius Eli" Claire introduced Eli to her marine friend "Eli this is Lieutenant Vanessa James" she introduced the pair, Lieutenant Scott then joined them and a look that lasted slightly too long passed between the two military personnel, which Claire recognised immediately but decided to ignore it as it was their business what the two of them did

"Hey Claire" Scott said as he sat, then turning to Eli "Claire's the smartest person on this base, but unfortunately Rush just loves to hog the limelight" He told Eli who looked at her as she shook her head slightly

"Don't believe it Eli, I may have a good IQ but I still have a lot to learn" Claire told him modestly and after that the four began chatting

* * *

After leaving her friends in the mess, Claire walked down the corridor to her quarters where she ran into TJ who was coming out of the office of Camille Wray looking uncomfortable

"Hey TJ" Claire called out to the blond medic who perked up a bit when she saw Claire "How it go?" she asked TJ who knew immediately to what Claire was referring

"I got it" TJ said with a smile and Claire beamed, so happy to hear that TJ had gotten her scholarship at Seattle University

"TJ that's wonderful" she said brightly to TJ who she embraced in a tight hug

"I was lucky to get in" TJ told her but Claire noticed that her smile didn't reach her eyes

"Wray giving you a hard time?" Claire asked; TJ certainly wouldn't be the first that the IOA representative had annoyed or upset. When Wray had tried with her, she'd flipped the situation and gave Wray a taste of her own medicine and laid on her how her superiors seemed to pass her over for promotion

If there was one thing Claire hated it was over baring bureaucrats

"How'd you guess?" TJ said with a grimace

"When they leave her office, everyone has a certain look on their face" Claire told her and TJ frowned

"What look?" she asked

Claire smiled "Like they've just digested something bad"

TJ suddenly smiled as she got Claire's joke

"When we get to Earth, you and me are going to have a day to ourselves" TJ told her

"Look forward to it" Claire told her

* * *

A few hours later Claire was in her quarters loading her backpack with some personal stuff before she went back to Earth, she was due a vacation and a couple of weeks away from Rush sounded mighty sweet

Her pack had some clothes in, a few personal bits and pieces as well as her notebook and her laptop; she swung the bag by the strap onto her back and sat on the bed, to think in peace and quiet till it was time for the beam up

It was then the world began shaking…

* * *

As Claire made it out of her quarters that a chuck of concrete fell from the ceiling and struck her on the head, sending her to the ground, still conscious but dazed and her eyes had trouble focusing

She stayed like that for several minutes but a large blur came up her and pulled her to her feet

Loud but incomprehensible words were being shouted at her before she was struck across the face by the blur who when her vision cleared up a little she recognised as Sergeant Greer

"Come on, we need to get out of here" Greer said, supporting her along the corridor towards the gate room as the corridor collapsed behind them

* * *

When they arrived, Greer handed her over to Lieutenant James who immediately asked

"Are you all right?" James asked her concern and Claire nodded slowly

She could vaguely hear Young and Rush arguing about whether or not to go through the wormhole. So Claire looked up at the Stargate, seeing to her amazement that all nine chevrons were lit up and a 'puddle' was simmering in the circle centre of the gate.

Greer quickly disappeared following Colonel Young and Claire turned her gaze to Eli who met her gaze, his eyes were filled with nervousness and fear, she gave him a small smile

Claire was by large conscious but there was still a blur slightly in her vision and she was having a real problem concentrating. She noticed people gathering around the gantry to the gate and Scott going through the wormhole

She was so frustrated that she could seem to focus properly and shook her head to try and focus but had little effect, the smile disappearing from her face as a grimace crossed her features instead. Soon they were all moving through the gate, taking supplies for the expedition. She felt a light crate handle being pressed into her hand which she wasn't using to hold onto James and James helped her up the gantry and with a certain sense of trepidation, they both stepped through the puddle into the unknown…

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Please Review

_My first Stargate Story so I will work hard to make it as good as I can_


	2. Chapter 2 Air Part 1

_I do not own Stargate Universe _

**Chapter 2 – Arrival **

The next thing Claire and Vanessa knew they were being hurled from the gate into a darkened room where people were narrowly dodging being hit by people and gear being thrown from the gate. They both stumbled out of the way just as a crate nearly took their heads off.

They heard screams and moans coming from all around them as people cried out in both fear and pain.

"Where are we?" and "What is this place?" were being shouted by people over and over again

Through her slightly blurred vision she saw Rush going up to a panel on the other side of the room and then he climbed some stairs to the top of a balcony overlooking the room

Shouts from different people kept sounding in the room, some urging to stay calm and others still gripped by chaos

When Rush reached the top of the balcony he looked out over the panicking people still in the main room below and grinned and then his eyes met Claire's. Despite her concussed state Claire maintained her vision looking him straight in the eye, trying to assess each others intent

The two scientists just stared for a moment, the grin fading from Rush's face

Then the last man came flying from the gate, literally sending him across the room just as the gate finally shut down releasing a gas discharge and plunging the room into darkness

Their connection broken Claire blinked slowly and when she looked back, Rush had disappeared through a door on the gantry, anyone who had a torch was lighting the room as best they could with people still crying out in the dark

* * *

Then everyone crowded around the other end where Colonel Young was lying injured as TJ tried her best to help him

Then cries of "Rush! Rush!" started coming from Scott when Claire gathered her breath and whistled attracting his attention, pointing up to the door on the gantry above

Then the ship began to shake and a strange feeling of being compressed for a moment gripped them before returning the normal. Everyone stopped shouting and looked around for some explanation

"What in the hell was that?" Greer said to Scott who replied "I don't know" before turned to face Greer "Sergeant I need you to get these people settled, find out who and what we've got but no one leaves this room" he ordered

Greer responded "Yes sir"

Scott then started up the gantry stairs shouted "Eli now" at the younger civilian

Claire felt herself being put sitting against the wall by Vanessa as the female officer went to help and Claire's mind flashed back to the moment she had been recruited to the Stargate Program

_Flashback..._

_It was a cold and dark night in a British city streets, the shops that line it are closed and it appears completely deserted _

_But this appearance is false as a person enters the empty street, she is fairly tall wrapped in a black long coat as she walked quietly through the street, her fiery red hair tied into a ponytail _

_Then from an alley another figure appeared, this one was tall as well and also female with shoulder length blond hair but she looked older than the red haired girl, perhaps in her late thirties or early forties _

_The two figures stopped for a moment to consider each other, before the red haired girl decided to keep walking, but the blond stepped in her way _

"_Hello Claire" the blond said startling the red head into stopping _

"_How do you know my name?" Claire asked suspiciously, her guard rising _

"_I know everything about you; I want to offer you a job" the blond told her calmly _

"_What kind of job?" Claire asked her wariness clear_

"_The best you'll ever have" the blond said in what Claire believed was a sincere voice, but her suspicions mounted _

"_No thanks" she replied and walked around the blond who shook her head and walked back into the alley _

_Two minutes later Claire was walking up a public road, her suspicions still spinning in her mind when she felt a tingle and her vision was engulfed by a blue light _

_When it cleared up a second later, Claire suddenly stopped as her entire surroundings had changed, she was now inside some kind of metal construct possibly a ship she thought but her immediate attention was stolen by the view she was now looking at _

_In front of her was a window looking down at the planet Earth_

_A lump formed in her throat and wonder filled her mind as she looked down at the blue and green planet below_

"_Nothing like seeing it with your own eyes is there?" a familiar voice said from behind her so Claire whipped around to see the blond from earlier _

"_Where am I?" Claire said, her breath deserting her _

"_On board the Odyssey, orbiting the Earth" the blond said warmly, walking up next to Claire so they were standing shoulder to shoulder and looked out of the window herself "Now" she said "What do think about my job offer?" _

"_What's the job?" Claire asked and the blond smiled at the new openness to the idea _

"_To make things like the Odyssey possible, to study and to learn and then put what you learn to use" the blond told her _

"_When do I start?" Claire said as her answer and the blond's smile grew wider _

"_Right away" she told her turning to face her and extended her hand "I'm Colonel Samantha Carter, United States Air Force" _

_Claire took the offered hand and shook it_

_End Flashback_

Claire came back to herself just in time to hear a mechanical groan, she looked over to the source of the sound and saw it to be from the air vent in the wall

It was then that she noticed how thin the air was getting before she fell into unconsciousness

* * *

When she came too, Claire noticed the room was lit and personnel were milling about in a better organized fashion then before and her vision was now much clearer, she got unsteadily to her feet and walked slowly up the stairs everyone failing to notice her

She got through the door at the top of the gantry and heard raised voices one of which sounded like Eli's, so she decided to follow the voices

She came into a room with a column which looked like an apple core connected to computer screens and interfaces in the middle. She saw Eli and Rush in the middle of a heated argument about Rush wanting to activate some function he had found that should have fixed the air filters but Eli said it wasn't safe. Scott and Greer stood in the background and watched the two men

Tired of this bickering Claire shouted "Hey" drawing all of their attention to her "Now is not the time to argue"

Eli immediately asked "Claire you alright?" seeing the large bump on her head but she shook it off

"No time Eli, now what is the problem?" Claire said walking slightly unsteadily into the room towards the console Rush was standing by and she slipped past him to get a look at the screen

It was the oldest dialect of Ancient she had ever seen, but she immediately saw what it was reporting

"It's saying the air filters need replacement fluid and then a name of the fluid they need" she told them. Eli, Scott and Greer all looked at her believing what she said but Rush scoffed

"You're half concussed" he said patronizingly to her leading to the other three men to stare at Rush warningly

"Hardly and I'm still the best linguist and Ancient technology expert you have; you confused the symbols for 'replace' and 'reset'" she shot back. He inwardly scoffed claim to be better than he was, pushing her slightly out of the way so he could look for himself and looked annoyed when he saw she was right

"So what fluid do we need?" Scott asked

"Its a lime based substance of some kind, I'll look and see if I can find any of the substance in the ship's manifest when I find it and where its stored" Claire told him "But..."she started to tell him "If we don't find any soon we've got a few hours at most" fear setting to all of them because if they didn't find what they needed soon then they were all going to die

Claire and Rush then met gazes again and this time, they met with equal anger at each other

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Please let me know what you think by reviewing


	3. Chapter 3 Air Part 2

_I do not own Stargate Universe _

"__" Radio talk_

**Chapter 3 – Arguments**

Claire stood at the interface after Scott, Greer and Eli had left

Leaving her and Rush alone

He leaned back against the frame of door watching her, his eyes glaring into her back. Claire felt his gaze but chose to keep working but the little hairs on the back of her head decided to stand on end

After a few minutes of this, he spoke in a flat emotionless voice

"Bet you thought that was funny, didn't you? Making me look like an idiot" Claire stopped typing away at the display in front of her

"I'm not trying to insult any one. I'm trying to save lives" she said back in a guarded tone tilting her head slightly so she could see him out the corner of her eye "I saw the reason why we are in trouble and told someone, what the problem?" she asked him

He stood up and walked over to her and she turned around to face him, less than a foot apart, their eyes level and trying to out stare each other

"The problem is that I am head scientist around here and you went over my head, you report to me" Rush told her angrily

"You failed to notice the problem at all and if it wasn't for you we wouldn't have even be here" Claire said back in the same angry tone

Rush refused to back down "It was our only chance to dial the ninth chevron"

And so did Claire "You mean your chance. Your life's work accomplished and now we all have to pay the price. There is no way this ship can store enough energy to dial Earth, we are all stuck out here" she shot back, revealing information she had found while trying to discover the ship's manifest

"We don't know where here is yet" Rush countered but Claire activated a holographic screen

"What do you think this is then?" Claire said back "A star map of the ship's journey from beginning to present" the path of the ship beginning from the Milky Way through many different galaxies till it reached where ever it was now "Do you want to take a guess at how far from home we are?" she asked sarcastically knowing as well as he did the answer

"Several billion light years from from home" he said suddenly solemn and humbled but Claire's rage continued

"That's right so unless we find a power source of Icarus scale we are never going home" she said sternly "You've trapped 80 people including yourself on the outskirts of the universe"

* * *

Soon the two scientists were joined again by Scott, Eli and Greer and now included Dr Lisa Park and Dr Brody who were all shown the star map and all soon glaring murderously at Rush as they tried to gain access to the ship's systems but soon found themselves locked out of most of the ship's database by security code locks which they couldn't bypass

Scott and Greer left to manage to a ship search while the rest of them stayed to try and fix the life support problem. Lisa Park and Claire were working at the same console while Brody and Eli were working another and Rush had sneaked off somewhere

Claire was peering into one of the data files she had unlocked and she suddenly said out loud drawing the attention of the others

"I found something" and Lisa peered over her shoulder to see what it was

"What is it?" Brody asked hoping that she had some good news but was ambivalent after he heard what she had to say

"There are hull breaches all over the ship, most are sealed by bulkhead doors but some aren't. If we seal the breaches that aren't we can extend our time frame to a extra day" Claire told them

"The only breach in this area that isn't sealed is in what looks like a shuttle not to far from here" Lisa said reading the display after Claire moved to let her get a better look

Just then Rush made an appearance asking like he was someone in authority "Any progress?"

"Yes we discovered that there are hull breaches which aren't sealed that are bleeding air, if we seal those breaches then we might get an extra day" Lisa reported after looking to Claire who nodded

Rush and Brody looked miffed that she had looked to Claire first before reporting but Rush carried on "How long have we got to seal the breaches?"

Eli decided to answer that question "At current levels of breathable air about six to eight hours"

They all looked anxious at that piece of information but Rush asked "OK does anyone have any good news?"

Claire then spoke to answer that "There is only one hull breach in this section to close off, the rest are sealed by bulkhead doors" and Eli said

"I managed to access the menu system and Claire helped me find a schematic of the ship's layout" he told Rush after looking appreciatively at Claire who smiled back

Rush looked even more annoyed at how Claire seemed to be challenging his 'authority' as head scientist but let it slide and started to walk out of the room after saying "Keep at it, anything might help"

Eli then noticed a rucksack in Rush's hand "I don't suppose you have any food in that do you I' am starving?" he asked the older man who didn't blink before saying

"No keep at it" and he turned around to leave again when Eli asked

"Well, where are you going?"

Rush answered without missing a beat "To find a bathroom" to which Eli answered

"Yeah. That would be good too" as the four of them went back to work and Rush vacated the room but as soon as he was out of ear shot, Eli said

"He looked miffed about something" and Brody said

"Given the situation, we're all probably acting a little out of character Eli, best focus on the job at hand"

* * *

But only a few moments later they were interrupted again when the radio Rush had left sounded with _"Rush this is Scott come in?" _

No-one immediately went to pick it up so Eli decided to do it _"Hello. This is Eli" _

Scott's voice asked _"Where's Rush?" _

Eli told him _"Bathroom, if he found it"_

But in the background Claire snorted "Yeah right" she said sarcastically

"What do you mean?" Brody asked

"An Ancient spaceship full of mysteries as Rush's first move is to find the toilet" she said disbelievingly and Lisa hummed in agreement. But Scott's voice brought them back to topic

"_Well I'm at what looks like a bulkhead door. It won't open. I was hoping Rush could open it from there" _

A bit unsure of what to do Eli asked _"Should I find him?"_

There was a moment of silence before Scott's voice said "_No"_

After a few moments the console at the center of the room started making noises that sounded like alarms, Eli moved to the console but alerted by the alarms Claire also moved from where she was working to the center column

She took one look at it and grabbed the radio from Eli's surprised hand _"Stop what your doing"_ she said into the radio

"_Why?"_ Scott said

"_The bulkhead's sealed because of a hull breach on the other side, if you open that door you'll be sucked out into space" _Claire told him and Eli looked horrified at the thought

"_Roger that. Thanks"_ Scott said a little nervous at the near miss

"_Lots of sections are sealed for the same reason, were only occupying a fraction of the ship right now, it just goes on forever"_ Eli told them looking at the schematic of the ship, taking the radio from Claire so he could speak

Then Rush came back

Eli went to try and speak to him "Oh,, hey, good timing. We just found" but was interrupted when Rush snatched the radio out of his hand Eli saying annoyed "Hey...Really?"

Without even looking up Rush said into the radio _"This is Doctor Rush. Meet me in the Gate Room immediately"_ before looking up to the people in the room with him and adding "everyone" and walking out again

With a sigh they all stopped what they were doing and headed for the Gate Room

* * *

People were muttering when they arrived trying to figure what was so important

Scott, Vanessa and Riley came in last and Scott asked "What's going on?"

Rush held up a case "In this case are five Ancient communication stones. They work over vast differences in real time"

But before Rush could continue he was interrupted by Senator Armstrong "So we can talk to people on Earth" and Rush with an annoyed sigh at being interrupted said

"Yes"

Everyone looked relieved that they could contact Earth and Rush continued with his description of how they worked "You physically take control of an individual at the other end" he paused for everyone to absorb the information before continuing "I brought these with us in the event we ended up somewhere out of range of normal communication"

Senator Armstrong said "So let's use them"

There was a murmuring of agreement in the background before Rush admitted "I already have"

The murmurings were quickly asking "What?" and "When?"

Brody broke through it by asking "Are they sending help?" and Rush answered

"No"

The crowd before Rush now sounded almost betrayed when they started asking why and Rush continued with his speech

"The only means of dialing this gate from our galaxy was destroyed in the attack. We're cut off"

The crowd started to feel both fear and depression when that news sunk in and Senator Armstrong once again made himself heard "I want to use one of those stones now" he demanded but Rush said over him

"I have spoken with General O'Neill..." before he was interrupted by the Senator again

"I am a United States senator!"

"I've explained our situation clearly" Rush said taking control of the conversation again "In light of my knowledge and experience, he has placed me in charge" he stated

The murmuring again started this time sounded like an angry bees hive and Claire shouted out in anger

"That's bull shit" drawing attention to herself and shouting the mumbling

"Bull Shit?" Rush said before Claire explained

"Emergency protocols were made for situations like this, when Earth groups find themselves out of range of Earth and potentially beyond any help. They state that until reviewed later at a more stable time the highest ranking able bodied military officer is in charge. I know General O'Neill and he would never put someone like you in charge, especially when that person has no command experience or training, he wrote half the protocols himself with Richard Wolsey sitting next to him" she paused to let that sink in before continuing "So for the moment the protocols recognize Lieutenant Scott's authority till Colonel Young recovers"

The looks at Rush now were accusing and Claire went up and took the stone case from him "I'll use the stones to go to Earth and get this straightened out" looking at Scott for permission

He nodded and she went up the stairs letting Scott take charge and Rush fuming that his moment had been taken from him

* * *

At the stone station a young woman doctor was sitting at the station accompanied by an older man

Suddenly the woman's eyes glazed over and she blinked

Claire settled into the body she temporally inhabited and looked at the screen, seeing a face that was not her own staring back at her

"And you are?" said a soldier standing at the door

The voice that came out of her mouth was not her own and Claire found it quite disconcerting "Claire Williams, I need to speak to General O'Neill"

The soldier nodded and walked out to attract the attention of said General who quickly appeared

"Claire are you ok?" he asked concerned "Tell me the situation since I doubt Rush gave me anything solid" he told her

"For the moment fine but the life support situation is continuing to escalate, we have six to eight hours before we suffocate and Rush is going power mad. You didn't really put him in charge did you?" she asked hopefully

"God no! I told him that Lieutenant Scott was in charge till Young recovers, although he omitted any mention of Scott at all when he explained the situation" O'Neill told her "Guess he didn't know I actually knew what officers were stationed on Icarus"

"Good, he doesn't seem to focus on the problem and although we might be able to find what we need we doesn't tell us anything" Claire told him

"Be careful Claire, Rush is a slippery one and I do not want to have tell Sam if something happens to you" O'Neill warned her

"I wish she was here with us, she'd have this solved in a snap, I haven't a clue what I'm doing" she admitted to him

"Just do your best, keep a clear head. You'll do fine" O'Neill assured her putting a comforting hand on her borrowed shoulder

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Thank you those who have read and an extra thank you to those who have reviewed

_This is not a 'how many times can I dis Rush in a chapter', in this story there is someone who can challenge him and for the purpose of the story in the beginning at least Rush has to take some heat _

_The last part of 'Air' after this so we'll see how things go this time _


	4. Chapter 4 Air Part 3

_I do not own Stargate Universe, I only created Claire _

**Chapter 4 - Solving the problem**

When Claire returned to _Destiny_ she discovered from Hunter Riley much had happened in her absence

Senator Armstrong had sacrificed himself to save everyone and Colonel Young had woken up, and the ship had now dialed a planet where they might find vital minerals to fix the life support system.

She immediately went to go to the control room when as she entered the corridor she nearly collided with a flying ball of some kind piloted by Eli with Scott watching

"Watch it" Claire yelled at Eli as she ducked her head to avoid the floating device

"Sorry" Eli said sheepishly "This is a Kino, sort of a floating camera I thought we could use them to explore the ship" he explained his recent discovery to her and now it wasn't trying to give her another concussion she looked closely at the camera ball

"Fascinating" she concluded and Eli went 'ohhh' in amazement

"What?" she asked him somewhat impatiently

"You so just had a Spock moment" Eli exclaimed

"Get real" Claire said disbelievingly as she walked past him but turned around when she felt his eyes on her and put her hand up in the 'Vulcan' salute with a mocking smile and said "Live Long and Prosper" before resuming her journey to the control room leaving a spluttering Eli and a howling with laughter Scott

* * *

She arrived in the Control room to find it deserted, Claire went to her laptop, still wired up to the apple core as Eli had decided to call it and she opened it up to see if the search program she'd set up before she left had found what she'd been looking for in the cargo manifest

She opened it up and saw the list of materials in the ship's inventory and highlighted one specific compound and symbol

Quickly grabbing her note pad from the back pocket of her jeans and drew the symbol with her pen and once she had it down she ran out of the room, colliding with Lisa Park who was coming in and sent both women falling to the floor

"What's the rush?" Lisa Park asked, getting to her feet a little dazed by the unexpected collision with the younger woman

"I got the symbol for crates of the chemical we need and the bay they're in" Claire said quickly almost jumping to her feet

Lisa Park just stared at her in silence before grabbing her by the arm and asking "Seriously?"

Claire just nodded and ran down the corridor with Lisa in hot pursuit

* * *

Vacuum sealed containers preserved everything brilliantly, even better when combined with Ancient Stasis technology, Claire and Lisa went through any of the marked crates which had the symbol on them. The number of strange substances and materials inside was incredible and both women would dearly love to study but their survival took priority and they only took the cylinders filled with the correct white liquid they needed and ran to the gate room

They arrived when the team was getting ready to go planet side and Colonel Young stood there to bid them off and turned to face the out of breath women who held up the container and immediately told the team before they entered the wormhole "Stop" and limped over to Claire

"Is it what we need?" he asked, eying the white cylinder they were carrying and they nodded "How much?" he asked

"Enough containers to refill every atmosphere processor on this ship and each will manage for a few hundred years" Claire told him excitedly

Young did not show any enthusiasm in his expression but his stance relaxed when he heard the good news "Replace it and get the life support system working, shut it down" he told Riley who manned the gate console who immediately shut the wormhole down

Rush looked over at Claire who met his gaze, his eyes burning with resentment and hers burned back with hatred

* * *

The atmosphere filters were being refilled with fresh fluid and the crew settled in to their new surroundings reluctantly, Young and Chloe had returned to Earth via the stones while the science team worked on unlocking the secrets of _Destiny_. Claire sat in her new quarters and unpacked her belongings, a feeling she had told her she'd be here awhile; for now at least they were all safe. Colonel Young had told her to get some sleep but she couldn't. Her body was buzzing and wake awake

So she got up, changed into a black tank top, matching sweatpants and laced up her military issue boots. She went to a small box in her backpack and opened it revealing a small gold locket in the shape of a heart, she opened it and looked at the tiny picture inside, a woman in her early thirties with brilliant red hair a shade or two darker than Claire's own, but their faces were the same shape and the woman's face was lit up with a great smile frozen in time. She placed a finger delicately on the image and her eyes watered but no tears fell

She closed the locket and placed it around her throat and secured its lock. She let her hair loose from its ponytail and walked out of her quarters towards the control room. On her way she ran into TJ who looked to be giving Young and Chloe a tour of the ship and explanation of the situation

"Hey TJ what's going on?" Claire asked and she took a closer look at the Young and Chloe when she noted how they were acting, Chloe seemed to have a sudden weight lifted from her shoulders like she hadn't just seen her father die and Young looked at her in a way that was almost predatory

A shiver went up her spine when she recognised that look, the same one Telford had given her back on Icarus every time they were in the same room

"Just giving Colonel Telford and Dr Mehta a report while we fix the life support system, Telford wants us to try dialing the other planets in range" TJ told her with some resentment clear in her voice

"Its a waste of power that we don't have, we need to conserve our resources" Claire with concern over his reckless decisions

"That's the same bull shit answer Brody gave" Telford told her and Mehta looked at Telford with full agreement on her face but before Claire could answer back, Telford started to kneel over in pain as the injuries of Young made themselves clear once again

"Right let's get you sat down while I give you something for the pain" TJ told him while she and Mehta held him up and walked towards some vacant quarters with Claire opening the door for them. They put the Colonel on the bed and TJ went for her medical kit and the blond caught Claire's eye and a glint of mischief was there

"Hold there" TJ told Telford who braced his arm while she pressed a needle into his arm and released its contents. The effects were almost instantaneous as Telford started to lose focus

He managed to get out "What did you..." before falling backwards unconscious on the bed

Dr Mehta looked startled "That was supposed to be for the pain. What did you give him?"

TJ answered while she and Claire lifted the unconscious man's legs onto the bed "A strong sedative, which we are desperately short on and I should not have had to use just so that Colonel Young can return to a body in working condition"

Mehta looked outraged "You are out of line Lieutenant" but TJ countered with her own statement

"Disregarding the health of another human being is out of line. I am well within my rights as ranking medical officer. He'll be out an hour or two" before both she and Claire walked out leaving the stuttering doctor and unconscious Telford behind

* * *

While TJ went to attend to the wounded, Claire went to the control room and started working on the database and almost didn't notice when the returned Young came into the room

"Sir" she said looking up from her work when she saw the Colonel enter, they were alone in the control as everyone else was off either exploring the ship or resting up

"At ease Claire, this isn't a reprimand" he told her in his normal low but strong voice "Well done on finding the mineral, we might not have found it or had to gone to the planet for it. You saved everyone on this ship, I can't give you a medal but I can give my thanks and those of everyone else on board"

"I only got us past the hurdle, there will doubtlessly be others and I doubt that Rush will thank me for going against him" Claire in a serious tone and Young looked straight at her and nodded

"He's going to a problem but we need him and I need you to keep an eye on things anything suspicious" Young told her and she gulped but but answered a steady

"Yes Sir"

_

* * *

_

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	5. Chapter 5 Recollections Part 1

_I do not own Stargate Universe_

_Set between Air Part 3 and Water_

_I decided to do a sort of background chapter for Claire, a bit more of her history, this chapter reflects her first mission through the gate with Colonel Samantha Carter _

**Chapter 5 – Recollections Part 1**

Eli and Claire were sat in the mess hall but only one of them was eating. Claire was eating some of her rations while Eli was working on her last nerve. He had started to make what he called a documentary of life on board _Destiny_.

"Come on Claire, favourite meal of all time?" Eli insistently asked her and she looked up to answer him in the hope he'd leave her to eat in peace

"I'm not a picky eater Eli, as long as its editable I'll eat it. Happy now?" she asked him, he'd been asking questions of different kinds for half an hour and it was grating

"Come on you must have a favourite" Eli insisted and Claire growled

"Eli knock it off, I'll give you one story then you leave me alone ok" she told him not asking and Eli with both interest and fear over what she might do to him if he didn't do as she said

"What's the story?" he asked eagerly

"My first mission for the SGC" Claire told him and she began her tale

_Eighteen months prior to Attack on Icarus Base, location Stargate Command _

A young woman with flaming red hair sat in a lab, perched on a stool looking into a microscope but sitting very self consciously which probably came from her clothing, a red halter top which looked two sizes too small and some very tight blue jeans.

She looked up to see who was at the door only to frown when she saw a dark haired woman flouncing in dramatically carrying shopping bags

"Hello Vala" Claire said resigned getting off her stool onto black booted feet and Vala pouted at the sound of the younger woman's voice

"You don't look happy to see me" Vala said in a whimpering manner that demanded sympathy

"You burned my wardrobe" Claire said annoyed crossing her arms

"But those clothes were so drab, no sense of style, they didn't do a thing for you" Vala protested like a irritated child "Now these" indicating her current outfit "You've got a great body darling, show it off"

Before Claire could respond, Sam walked in and looked startled at what Claire was wearing but didn't comment

"Claire I just heard from General Landry, he Ok'd you to go on the Tretonin supply drop to P5X-674" Sam told her "Why you feel the need to go on this drop off I don't understand"

"It's a trip through the gate Sam, I just want to know what's like. To step through that puddle and step on to another world, alien earth beneath my feet and another sun on my face. Maybe you and others are used to that but I want to experience it myself" Claire told her excitedly

Sam smiled at Claire's enthusiasm, the girl may only have been under her guidance for a short time but already Claire was showing the signs of being a phenomenal scientist but the girl was keen to get out into the field and this was a milk run as good a way to get her started as any Sam supposed

"We go in two hours, oh you might wanna change" Sam smirked as she told her before walking out, Claire quickly started walking towards the door and Vala spoke up having been largely left out of the previous conversation and was keen to make her presence known

"After you get back I'm going to arrange a girl's day out with you, me and Sam" Vala told her out of the blue

Claire retorted with "Shouldn't you be getting ready, how you got Daniel to go out on a date with you is beyond me"

"Oh just my natural charm" Vala told her and her smile grew wider when she innocently added "It might have helped when I made a bet with him that Mitchell would ask Dr Lam out while General Landry was still here and I won"

Claire just shook her head and walked out with a sigh, leaving Vala behind to plan her outfit for her much awaited date

* * *

Two hours later Claire was dressed in standard black field gear waiting for the go in the gate room like Sam and the SG-7 team but unlike them she wasn't armed

They stood around a small collection of carts, loaded up with tretonin for the Jaffa on P5X-674 and the gate dialed up, for most of the people in that room it was nothing particularly interesting, they'd seen it so many times before. But this was Claire's first time, she watched as the giant wheel of metal rolled around and its chevrons lit up. The anticipation grew with every second as the technician announced each chevron as it locked

Then when at last the seventh chevron finally locked and a giant plume of blue energy burst outward like plume of water before it settled back into the circle and simmered like a pond in the sunwith a gentle wind creating ripples on its surface.

Claire's breath was taken away when the wormhole established and Sam looked over and smiled at the young woman's enthusiasm before putting an hand on her shoulder and led her up the ramp and with a seconds hesitation through the gate

The next thing Claire knew, sun light was hitting her eyes and fresh air was breathed into her lungs, she blinked and looked away from the sun to see a forest that looked much like an Earth forest, but when she looked up at the sky again her breath was taken away

The sky was dominated by the sun, but aside from that were four moons visible all different sizes

Claire forgot to breathe before Sam gently hit her on the back and awoke the girl enough to remember to breathe, she looked to Sam who said warmly

"You never forget the first time" and Claire smiled back and the team wheeled their charts down the path to the nearby village which they could see a mile away

* * *

When they entered the village the streets were nearly deserted and those that were on them seemed tense

Suspicion crept up on the SG team especially Sam who had been to this village before and knew that this was not normal. Finally out of a small hut near the center a man appeared wearing long yellow robes and his head marked with a symbol

Sam and the group started to walk towards him but quickly noticed the depressed look on his face and as they reached the middle of the street Claire felt her foot hit something

The group stopped and looked down to see a small globe shaped device that had started glowing

Sam said "Oh not aga-" but she couldn't finish as a burst of light rendered all six of them unconscious

* * *

When Claire woke up she was in some kind of room, black smooth walls with golden patterns over and around the door where a door control was charred and darkened. She looked around her to see SG-7 still unconscious but Sam awake sitting against one of the walls, when she saw Claire coming round she shuffled over to the younger woman who groaned as her head started to ache

"Easy there get your bearings back" Sam told her helping Claire sit on up

Claire put her hands up to steady to head and groaned "Where are we?" and Sam looked at her before she told her

"On board a Ha'tak controlled by the Lucian Alliance" Claire looked up questioningly and Sam added "One of their guards came in earlier to see if any of us were up yet"

"What do they want?" Claire asked and Sam only shrugged

* * *

Two hours later the rest of the Tauri team had woke up and Colonel Collins the marine leader of SG-7 was pacing like a caged lion while the rest of the group sat around the room waiting for their captors to show themselves

Finally the door opened and a man walked in accompanied by five bodyguards, the man who they assumed was the leader was 6ft 4 in height but his nearly black eyes were cold like stone and his well groomed hair and expensive looking stood out from the rough leather outfits worn by his men

"Hello Colonel Carter, your reputation precedes you" he said addressing Sam first, his cold eyes had little effect on Sam as she'd seen this so many times before, but they sent a sliver down Claire's spine

"Who are you and what do want?" Sam demanded calmly

"Oh forgive my lack of manners and let me introduce myself" the man said with false sincerity "My name is Masim and you are the guests of the Lucian Alliance. I have a job that requires your unique talents" he said with a sneer

Sam put on a strong face and said back "Why would I help you?"

Masim didn't answer just made a gesture with his hand and stepped back. His guards came forward and pulled out their weapons and quickly took aim and fired; gunning down SG-7 and all four men fell to the floor dead

Horror gripped Sam and Claire and Masim pressed home his point "You'll do what I tell you or your young friend there" he said indicating Claire "will become familiar with bullets and my men with her as its been sometime since they enjoyed a good female" he added making it a double threat

Claire was terrified, not only of dying but of the grins on the faces of the shifty looking guards around him as they leered at her

"Alright" Sam said recovering from her shock at seeing SG-7 massacred "Leave her alone and I'll do what you say"

"Excellent I knew you'd see things my way" he said now leering at Sam and then another man entered carrying rod shaped devices that Sam recognized from both her own memories and those she had inherited from Jolinar. And both were bad memories

"Just to encourage you a little" Masim said with a malicious grin at Sam and the new arrival walked behind Claire who tried to turn to face him but with one hand he roughly grabbed her by the shoulders to force her to face away from him. Sam realised what was going to happen but before she could warn Claire the man jabbed the pain stick into Claire's back

Claire's world suddenly exploded in a burst of pain the like she had never experienced and screams erupted from her mouth

'MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!' she pleaded to no-one in particular, she wasn't even sure the words came out

But the pain continued

_

* * *

_

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	6. Chapter 6 Recollections Part 2

_I do not own any element of the Stargate Franchise_

"__" Mental Speak_

**Chapter - Recollections Part 2**

_The Present...Location Ancient ship Destiny_

"So you were tortured just to encourage Samantha Carter to co-operate" Eli exclaimed interrupting her, he'd only ever heard of such things in movies or on TV

"Yeah and that was not an experience I care to repeat. They enjoyed watching me in pain Eli, they enjoy such things, but as you can see I'm still here so if I could continue?" she asked him with a slightly withering look

"Sure, sorry" he said sheepishly

_Eighteen Months ago...Location Lucian Alliance Hatak_

Claire had run out of breath to scream and was hovering near the edge of unconsciousness but still remained awake, gasping for breath. It was the third day of her imprisonment on board the Lucian Alliance vessel, she hadn't seen Sam since the first day and her tormentor kept on using pain sticks to make her suffer

A chuckle was heard to her left somewhere and the weasel interrogator with his beady black eyes sneered at her

"Enough for the moment little girl, Masim just left to deal with some issues on one of his planets and he said not to touch you till he comes back" her tormentor said wistfully but his eyes hopeful as he imagined the horrors he could inflict once his boss returned

"You're getting a new cell mate today, let's see how the two of you get on" he told her, coming closer and Claire saw him lick his lips as he looked down on her. Before she find the energy to drag herself away from him, he bended over and grabbed her by the hair and sniffed her hair, revulsion filled every part of her body.

He dropped her to the floor and walked out without a backwards glance and Claire curled up as much as she could and slipped into a deep sleep, wondering how such a supposedly simple trip to drop-off some medicine could come to this

* * *

She was awoken later by the sounds of the door opening and a thump hitting the floor, quickly followed by the sound of the door closing. She gingerly opened her eyes to see a young woman who looked only a year or two older than her collapsed on the floor bearing many cuts and bruises to the visible areas of her body and what looked like a kimono was hanging in shreds off her body

Her eyes were open and looking intently at Claire who stared back but neither girl was staring malice

They just stared

This went on for a long time before Claire made the first move, she turned on to her stomach and pulled herself with her arms over to the other woman who slid back against the wall but Claire stopped a meter from her and pulled herself into a sitting position

When the other girl didn't speak and just kept staring Claire sighed and extended her hand saying in as friendly a tone as she could

"Claire"

The other girl didn't answer immediately but after a couple of seconds she slowly extended her own hand to Claire's who smiled warmly to encourage her. The touch was so gentle that Claire barely felt the smooth skin of the other girl's touch her own.

But then the unnamed girl grabbed Claire's hand in an iron grip with strength that belied her small form and pulled Claire forward, wrapping her other hand around Claire's head and pressing her own mouth to Claire's own. Claire was so shocked that she failed to close her mouth before their mouths connected

Then Claire felt something entering her mouth that was not the girl's tongue, she struggled but the girl's grip was unbreakable, she felt whatever that thing was entering her mouth wiggling, it was alive! She thought panicking as it reached the back of her throat and then all Claire felt before she blacked out was a sharp pain.

* * *

When she awoke the girl had released her and lay before and her chest was still, Claire gently felt for a pulse but found none. Claire looked at the girl and gasped, not sure what just happened

"_She gave her life to save mine"_ a distinctly female voice echoed, Claire's gaze darted around the room trying to find its source but saw nothing

"_Dear child I'm not out there"_ the voice sounded again and Claire realized the voice was inside her head

"What the hell?" Claire asked aloud, her panic rising again

"_Be calm girl, I'm sorry to have to do this but for the sake of the others I must"_ the voice answered back

"Who are you?" Claire demanded

"_I'm Maylin, a Goa'uld queen these rouges captured. I was on my way to defect to the Tok'ra when they captured me"_ the voice said identifying herself but at the mention of Goa'uld Claire started to feel truly scared. She had been briefed about the Goa'uld when she first entered the Stargate Program and she realized what had happened

"Get out of me" Claire demanded as she started to feel anger overpowering her but suddenly a soothing presence started to relax her emotions

"_I know your fear young one but I have left the Goa'uld I served and intend to join the Tokra, I wish I could have warned you better but my host was dying and if I perish then so too will the hope of the Tokra"_ Maylin told her reassuringly

"_What hope?" _Claire asked back with her thoughts this time rather than her voice

"_The Tokra have no queen, they are slowly dying out but with me they can repopulate their race. See now the importance of my mission Claire"_ Maylin calmly told her and Claire's mind was suddenly filled with images of men and women in white robes of some kind in a crystal city, what really surprised Claire was a feeling of longing and hope that came with the image

"_What is this?" _Claire asked amazed

"_It is called blending, when the thoughts and feelings of host and symbiont are shared"_ and more images and memories that were not her own flowed gently into her mind as did hers into Maylin's

* * *

_One day later …_

Sam was shocked to hear gunfire outside her lab and turned to face the door opening to see Daniel and Teal'c burst in

"Sam" Daniel said relieved and relaxed his grip on the P-90 in his hands and although the reaction was smaller in Teal'c, Sam knew him well enough to see the relief in his eyes when he saw her

"Well guys not that I'm ungrateful to see you but how on Earth did you get here?" Sam asked

"We hijacked the Alkesh that Masim's people were using to bring replacement crew after he took most of them with him off the ship, after that SG-1, 3, 6, and 11 all boarded and took the ship's skeleton crew by surprise, we've rounded the survivors up and secured them in the cargo hold" Daniel told her

"Why would Masim take most of the crew with him" Sam asked, this time Teal'c answered

"There have been uprisings on some of the planets he controls; to suppress them he's stretched his forces very thinly. So we took advantage and caught him off guard, better yet the crew didn't have time to set the self-destruct or encrypt the computers properly so we've taken the mother ship" Teal'c told her

Vala then came racing through the door and pulled Sam into a tight bear hug

"I'm so glad you're ok" Vala said into Sam's shoulder, rocking gently as Sam looked awkwardly at Daniel and Teal'c for help but the two of them just stood there grinning

Mitchell then came in and his face brightened at the sight of Sam and that she was ok and Vala released her

"Sam thank god you're all right" Mitchell said and then Sam suddenly remembered

"Have you found Claire yet?" she asked and suddenly the looks on the faces of SG-1 changed from relief to concern

"No we haven't, not yet, what about SG-7?" Mitchell asked

"Dead, their leader Masim had them executed, kept Claire alive as leverage but they torturing her with pain sticks" Sam said grimly and shock showed itself on the members

Then the leader of SG-3 Colonel Albert Reynolds appeared in the room with some of his men standing outside the room

"Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Cater" he addressed his fellow officers "We've err…got a situation"

"What now, I thought we secured the ship" Mitchell said exasperated

"We did secure the ship sir; it's just…well it's better to show you" Reynolds said awkwardly and he turned to face his men standing on the other side of the open door and nodded, his lieutenant returned the gesture and he led Claire into the room

"Thank god you're alright…" Sam went to go over to Claire but then a tingle ran down her spine which was also felt by Teal'c and Vala and she stopped immediately

Claire's eyes flashed a white glow that was horribly familiar

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me" Mitchell exclaimed

* * *

_Present Location Ancient Space ship Destiny…_

"You got infected with an alien parasite" Eli exclaimed, he's expected some story about a milk run to some uninhabited world not a struggle to survive against a deadly enemy

"A Tok'ra not a parasite, spend the next four months on a Tok'ra base until Maylin was strong enough to be transferred to another host. The ship was taken back to Earth were it became part of Earth's space fleet. After that it took nearly six months to convince Sam to let me go off world again but during that time, both Sam and Daniel taught me so much about their fields of study I became fluent in many different languages like Goa'uld, Asgard, and Ancient among others and Sam increased my lessons into science and technology even sent me to Atlantis for a while to take a look at the Ancient technology over there" she said

Eli's head felt like it was spinning how much stuff was missed off those intro tapes he'd watched

His confusion must have shown on his face because Claire smiled and said reassuringly

"Don't worry; everything that happens with the Stargate Program can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around but you'll get used to it"

And with that Claire got up and left the table to got to her new room for some sleep

* * *

_Sorry I cut this chapter a bit short; I did it because I honestly wanted to get on with the SGU parts of the story_


	7. Chapter 7 Darkness

_I do not own any element of the Stargate Franchise_

_In the Canon, a day passes between 'Air part 3' and 'Darkness' but in this it has been three days_

"__" radio talk_

_Sorry for the long time between updates _

**Chapter 7 – Darkness**

After watching Rush with his own problems i.e. the lack of coffee and walking out of the room, Claire was standing in the Control interface room and working on trying to unlock the ship's systems but was being frustrated at every turn and as she hit yet another firewall, she let out a growl in frustration and banged the console with her fist. She was exhausted, it had been three days since they arrived on _Destiny_ and the quarters they given her were right next to a piece of Ancient equipment they couldn't identify but all through the night had made a continual tapping sound that was quite possibly the most annoying sound Claire had ever heard. It kept her awake all her down time and when she'd asked for some new quarters, Young had turned around and said for the moment that there were none available and just to make the best of it. This lack of sleep was pushing her to her very limits. To make matters worse the other scientists had all gone off to explore the ship leaving her alone in her attempts to access the ship's systems.

When the radio clinked on she almost shouted "WHAT" into it but managed to restrain herself and said in a strained voice

"Yes?"

Colonel Young's voice sounded out "Claire we need you in the Mess Hall immediately" and then the radio clicked off again and Claire growled again in frustration as she put her work on hold again for what was probably just a useless meeting. She stormed out of the control room and down the corridor, everyone that she passed in the corridor quickly stepped out of her way, noticing the stormy look on her face

A couple of minutes later she arrived in the Mess Hall. Everyone looked up to see her enter having just been enjoying a laugh at Eli's, Scott's and Chloe's expense. They immediately stopped laughing when they saw her standing so tense, her fists clenched and the large shadows under her eyes.

"You called?" Claire asked Young in a strained voice, struggling to keep her already violent temper under control, but her tense tone, clenched fists and huge shadows under her eyes were noticed by everyone

Young took in her appearance and said

"Claire were short on water, we need you to access the gate system and see if there are any planets in range that have what we need"

That was the moment Claire snapped; the effects of the stress, having to do the work of five people, lack of sleep and feeling like she was being put upon again finally pushed her past her limit

"Oh great yet another job for me to do, it's bad enough that I'm the only one trying to access the ship's systems and gain control of this ship but now I've got to find water as well. Why don't you get the computer genius over there" she said angrily nodding at Eli who was backing away from Claire as far as he could "to do it, all he's done since we got here is play with that stupid Kino. I've got enough work to do as it is but no why don't just leave it me" before she stormed out, leaving the people in the Mess Hall in complete silent shock at the outburst from the normally good natured and friendly young woman.

"Well that was harsh" Brody said as Claire disappeared down the corridor and Chloe said

"When was the last time she got some sleep?"

Young said "She hasn't slept since we came on-board; her quarters are next to some kind of device we can't identify but the noise has been keeping her awake. Lieutenant Scott" he said turning towards Scott "Go and check out the shuttles" he said and Scott nodded and he turned to Airmen Dunning and Curtis and motioned them to follow him and left the room. They past Rush as he entered the mess and saw he was in a similar state as Claire.

Scott grimaced as he realised that their two best scientists were not only at each other throats but quite literally at their breaking points.

* * *

Claire moved quickly through the ship back to the control room where she started to access the gate system which was astonishingly easy compared to anything else. She looked at what planets were in range that had a Stargate; there were three. One was a barren rocky moon with a breathable atmosphere, another was rogue that had drifted away from its sun and the third was going through some kind of atmospheric event like what happened to Earth when the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs had hit, throwing up dust into the atmosphere. None of which had water that they could take, she tensed and then kicked the console in frustration before leaning back against the wall and sliding down to sit on the floor and put her head one her knees. The exhaustion was getting to the point where she couldn't keep going anymore. Then she heard footsteps coming closer and quickly rose to her feet and was gritting her teeth when she saw Eli enter the room

"Hi" Eli said nervously looking at Claire as though she was a snake waiting to strike him "I just thought I'd…" he continued before Claire interrupted him

"If you're going to look for planets with water you're wasting your time, none of the planets in range have water so go back to the Colonel and give him the news" she said as she tried to restrain her temper to avoid another outburst and decided to go and try and get some sleep despite the noise in her quarters and brushed past Eli just as he was about to say something

* * *

She walked down the corridor towards her quarters and already she could hear the incessant tapping of the unknown piece of equipment. She pressed the door release and as the door opened she slowly walked in and stripped down to her underwear before simply falling onto the bed and trying to block out the noise by putting the thin folded blanket over her head.

But it didn't work and she groaned into the pillow getting up again and putting on a fresh black tank top and dark blue jeans and laced up her military boots and clipped her radio to her waist. She left her quarters and walked, she had no idea where she was going she just walked.

She found a room that had different kind of door to the others after about twenty minutes; she looked at the door release and saw the door release was different to the others as well, having something that looked like a code lock.

Her interest in what the door could be hiding abated her exhaustion somewhat; she went back to her quarters and returned with her laptop. After she removed the cover of the code lock and used some leads to connect it to her computer. She started to work on cracking the code to the door.

It didn't take her long; the code was actually very simple and easy for someone who had a decent amount of knowledge of the Ancients to crack. The door clicked open and she looked inside and when the lights came on she smiled for the first time since she'd arrived on this ship when she saw what was inside. Reaching for her radio she turned it on and called out

"_Colonel Young come in"_ it didn't take long for him to answer

"_Young here, what's the situation?" _

Claire said _"its Claire here, I've just found a store room with some items that I think you will find very interesting"_

"_Define interesting" _Young asked

* * *

"This definitely interests me" Young said after coming to see the room she'd found with Scott, Eli, Brody and TJ.

The room was narrow, only a metre across and went on for about five metres but lining its walls were dozens of strange looking pistols and rifles as well as a number of handheld computers that resembled PDAs.

Brody carefully picked one of the pistols off the racks and examined it; Claire removed one as well and carefully pushed a button on the side. The gun gave a slight hum as it came to life and a small light on the barrel went red for a moment before turning green and then yellow. Claire turned and aimed her pistol at an interior door and pulled the trigger. The pistol shot a single yellow pulse of energy that slammed into the door and left a black burn mark

Eli was ecstatic at the find

"We've got laser guns this is cool" he said looking at the weapon with delight

But Colonel Young, Scott and TJ were happy for another reason

"At least this solves our lack of weapons" Scott said

But just as the words left Scott's mouth the lights dimmed considerably but then flickered back to life, everyone frowned but Colonel Young reached his radio

"_Lieutenant James come in" _he said a moment later the indicated woman answered

"_James here sir" _

"_Could you lend Claire your quarters for a while?" _Young asked and Claire blinked in surprise

"_Of course sir"_ James answered by radio _"I'll meet her there" _

Without further ado, Young turned to Claire and said

"Go get some sleep, I need you on top form" and Claire suppressed a smile before answering

"Yes sir" and went off to get some much needed rest

* * *

She followed Vanessa in her quarters and said

"Thanks Vanessa I really appreciate this" and stripped down to her underwear and folded her clothes on the nearby chair

"Anytime" Vanessa said and with that she left to leave Claire alone to get some sleep. In almost blissful silence, Claire lay down on the soft bed and fell into a deep restful sleep.

* * *

When Claire woke up a few hours later from the most restful sleep she'd had in her life, she knew immediately that something was wrong. She pulled her tank top and looked out into the hallway and noticed that the light were out. She grabbed and zipped her jeans and boots and went to find out what the hell was going on

She met TJ and Rush in the corridor were they were walking to the shuttle, so she joined them. They reached the shuttle moments later and Colonel Young rose to meet them with a slight smile on his face

"Come in" he said and they walked into the rear of the shuttle. Rush noticed what they were doing and they all talked about how flying so close to the gas giant was going to create some turbulence so they all split up to make sure everyone knew what to do. Claire went with Colonel Young and Greer and after sending the message via radio they went to tell people who didn't have a radio

As they walked down the corridor where Vanessa's quarters were they saw a same in the darkness and Greer quickly drew his weapon but as they crept closer they saw it was just a floating kino. They were surprised however to hear Eli's voice coming from it.

"WOW don't shoot it's me"

"You can talk through that thing?" Greer asked but he didn't lower his weapon

"I can talk through this thin" Eli answered through the Kino

But before anyone could ask any more questions, Vanessa came out into the hallway from her quarters drawn by the commotion dressed in a very tight tank top and shorts leaving her quite beautiful body shape on display and then it dawned on them what the Kino was doing there and Eli and Riley finally appeared in the flesh and started muttering excuses

"I can and will kick your ass" Vanessa said angrily but before she could Colonel Young interrupted

"You can do that later but right now we're getting close to a gas giant in a few minutes, it could be a bumpy ride. We're short on radios I need you to help me spread the word"

"Yes sir" Vanessa answered and without another word went back into her quarters to get changed. Young, Claire and Greer then turned back towards Eli and Riley when started muttering excuses

"Wrong turn really, you're going to stick to that story" Young asked them, choosing the most repeated excuse mockingly "Go help now" he ordered and as Young, Claire and Greer walked past them to continue warning people Claire said in a whisper just loud enough for them to hear

"Perverts"

* * *

Later with a lot of other people, Claire stood on the Observation deck watching the beautiful blue gas giant as Destiny moved past it. It was spectacular but the ship shook as it hit the turbulence the Colonel had warned them about and so everyone sat down as far from the wall as the could so to not break their back. When Destiny swung its way back into open space everyone cried out in elation including Claire who'd surprising enjoyed the rough ride but then Claire saw something in the distance. A bright yellow sun burning a ways off, but Claire noticed that it was straight in Destiny's path and if the ship continued on its present course, _Destiny_ was going to fly straight into the sun.


	8. Chapter 8 Light

_I do not own any element of the Stargate Franchise_

_Thank you to those who have read and again to those who reviewed namely Just a Crazy Man, Shadows-of-Realms and Hope and Love_

_And now on with the show_

**Chapter 8 – Light**

They had all moved to the Gate Room on the Colonel's orders for an announcement, Claire already knew what it was likely to be about.

How could they be this unlucky? She thought to herself with a mix of anger and disbelief. First they'd been forced through the gate to the old and falling apart _Destiny_ with no way to return to Earth, with so little food and so little water, then they'd nearly been suffocated their first day on the ship, then they'd lost all power and now the ship was heading straight into a star with no way to change its course. What on Earth had they done to deserve this? She raged silently

But Colonel Young's appearance on the upper gantry stirred her from these thoughts and everyone turned to face him as he walked carefully down the steps.

"You've all heard about our situation" he said "It sucks but I'm going to repeat the facts so that we are all clear" he continued until he reached the bottom of the stairs "in just over a day, this ship will fly into a star and now we have no power to change its course, and we have no idea how to even steer this ship even if we did so we are having another bad day."

He paused for a moment before continuing "So here's what we're going to do. We have a working shuttle; we think there are three planets out there that might be habitable. Now we think, no we believe" he said correcting himself "that it's no accident _Destiny_ dropped out of FTL in this solar system, to give us a chance. Now once we know for sure that there is a planet out there for us we are going to have a lottery"

"What?" some people called out in alarm

Young explained "We are going to draw the names of fifteen people" but then Brody interrupted him

"The shuttle can hold twice that many" and Scott chose to answer that comment

"Not once it's loaded down with supplies besides there's only life support for seventeen people max"

Wray noted the two missing from the lottery number "You said fifteen"

Finally Young managed to get a moment to explain "I will be choosing two of the people myself; two people with the necessary skills to fly the shuttle and survive on the planet".

But Claire stopped listening after that, looking at Scott and TJ and she knew it was them. Scott was the only one of them that had pilot training and TJ was their only medic. She considered the possibility that maybe the Colonel had other reasons for choosing TJ aside from her medical skills, namely the affair they'd been having. But she dismissed that possibility quickly, as in love with her as Colonel Young was he wouldn't put her on the shuttle without a good reason when the lives of others were at stake. Claire had noticed the affair back on Icarus and disapproved because of Young's marriage but it was their lives and TJ was smart enough to make her own decisions. She waited for the Colonel to finish and then walked quietly to the observation deck, not wishing to be in her small quarters right now.

She sat down against the wall and sat on the floor, ignoring the couch just a few feet away. She looked out of the large window to see the great burning sphere in the distance and for the first time since she came on board confronted the possibility that she might die.

In the back of her mind she'd always felt that she might in the last four days but she'd always thought there was a way out. But this time there wasn't.

She wasn't going to get on that shuttle, even if she was picked. She'd sworn to herself a long time ago after what had happened with her mother that she'd never let anyone die for her again. She couldn't live with herself if it happened again especially if she'd a chance to prevent it. As she came to her resolution, the panic, dread and anger of the situation seemed to fade away as a resigned calm came over her.

She would face death with her head held high she thought to herself with determination and she got to her feet and went to the Colonel's quarters.

* * *

She saw Wray coming to of the Colonel's quarters looking really upset but Claire paid her no mind. She knocked on the Colonel's door and it opened a moment later with the Colonel on the other side.

"Look Claire I'd like to help but I busy right now" he said but Claire decided to get straight to the point before she lost her nerve

"Take my name out of the lottery" the words stunned Young into silence

"Excuse me?" he asked sure he'd heard her wrong

"I said take my name out of the lottery. I won't go" Claire told him. Young gestured for her to enter his quarters and she did and he closed the door behind her

"Claire anyone who isn't on that shuttle is going to die, now I can't put my life ahead of others" he started to tell her trying to reason with her so she'd change her mind but she interrupted him

"I can't either, now please just take my name out of the lottery because even if you don't and I'm picked I won't get on that shuttle so do us all a favour and just take my name out okay?" she said with her voice wavering a bit

"Okay I'll do it but not before you tell me why" he said grimly, he hadn't expected anyone to volunteer to stay behind and he was hoping to find fault in Claire's argument so he could convince her to at least try for a place on the shuttle

"I couldn't live with myself if someone died so I could live and I had the power to prevent it so please just remove my name" she told him with as much conviction as she could manage but there was a slight tremor in her voice she couldn't hide

Colonel Young looked at her for a moment, trying to assess her conviction but could only see despite the fear she was resolute and determined. With reluctance he said simply

"Okay" and with that Claire left his quarters as quickly as she could. He turned back to his desk and out of the pile where the names for the lottery had been compiled he picked her name out of the pieces of paper and stared at it for a moment. He liked Claire, she was honest and trustworthy, smart and had the potential to do great things and had become a daughter figure to him but fate had placed her here and now whether she had a chance to live and die rested on his shoulders. He was tempted to put her name back in the lottery but then he remembered the determination in her eyes and knew that to get her that shuttle they'd have to knock her out first.

With a resigned sigh, he placed her name separately from the others and cursed the situation they were in

* * *

Claire decided to miss the big assembly were the names of the fifteen lucky people would be picked. So she waited on the observation deck, watching the spectacle through a Kino out of curiosity to see who was chosen.

She counted off the names as they were picked; Becker, Walters, Wray, Vanessa James (she smiled at that one), Dr Park, Dr Brody, Riley and lastly Dr Boone. She watched as Spencer tried to start a rush to get on the shuttle but Greer knocked him out. Rush joined her at the railings followed by Greer, Eli, Young and Chloe. They all said their goodbyes to the shuttle crew by radio and watched them leave.

Young and Greer left to take a walk around _Destiny_ and before Rush left he turned to apologize to Eli for getting him into this and then he turned to Claire

"Claire I just thought I should say that I'm sorry your career had to end like this" Rush said to her. She was surprised but gave him a smile

"It's okay Doctor Rush; at least we got to see what the ninth chevron did and to see _Destiny_. I just wish we could have known her better" she told him and they shook each other's hand before Rush went to finish his book and Eli, Claire and Chloe stayed on the observation deck and stood at the railings. Chloe put her head on Eli's shoulder while Claire grasped his hand in hers.

* * *

They sat on the couch as the hours past, not really talking just taking comfort in each other's presence. Claire took her locker from around her neck and opened it so she could look at the picture inside.

"Who's that?" Chloe asked as she leaned over to see the picture

"My mother" Claire said flatly hoping to put off any questions but then Eli asked

"Does she know about…" but before he could finish the question Claire interrupted

"She died when I was little" Claire said quickly and firmly, her tone ending any more conversation on the matter. She didn't want to think about her mother's death, it was better left forgotten. Only she never could forget and buried the memory as deeply as she could but it remained there haunting her dreams

With that they went back to staring out of the window to see the burning hot surface of the sun so close to the ship now the eruptions of solar matter on the surface were all around them. Claire was getting really frustrated

Will it just end she thought to herself angrily, she just wanted to get it over and done with

But then something occurred to her, it should have been over by now, the heat and gravitational forces should have destroyed the ship by now. Surprising both Eli and Chloe she got up and went over to the railings and started laughing as pure unrestrained elation filled her up. Chloe and Eli looked over, thinking she'd gone mad. But then Rush ran in and looked over himself and then he started laughing as well.

"Do you think?" Claire asked him, managing to contain her laughter for a moment

"Yes" Rush answered and they both gave each other brief hug as they started laughing again. Eli had clearly had enough of not knowing what was so funny as he believed they were about to die so he decided to ask, getting up from the couch with Chloe

"Uh what are we so happy about?" Eli asked

"We're going to live Eli" Rush told him happily

"But what about the heat and the gravity from the sun and the dying?" Eli asked but Claire already had an answer

"All the power was diverted to the shield so we could tolerate the conditions of the star long enough to collect enough energy to restore the ship's reserves" Claire explained with a large smile on her face "If you think about that the only way a ship like _Destiny_ could function for so long without a base to refuel. But by using solar matter as a power source you could go on forever as long as there are stars to collect energy from" she told him

Then confirming their theory the lights started coming on all over the ship and so Rush, Claire and Eli ran to the Interface Room while confused Chloe looked out as Destiny skimmed the star's burning surface.

* * *

The ship was now back to full power and with a risky sling shot around a planet the shuttle had got back to _Destiny_ in time before they jumped to FTL. Claire decided to use the opportunity to study what portions of the ship's database that were accessible. She was joined Rush who went to work at the other console, apparently having the same idea. After a tense silence Claire decided to talk to him.

"You know, when I thought I was going to die the one I regretted was not getting to know _Destiny_ better" she told him

He looked up from his work and asked in an annoyed tone

"Your point?"

Claire noted the tone of his voice but pressed on

"My point is that this ship is full of mysteries but between the two of us we could unlock them" she said

"A partnership?" Rush asked in almost disbelief

"Yes" Claire said, extending her hand and hoping he'd take it. Solving the puzzles this ship contained would be easier with him than without him.

But Rush ignored the hand and left the room, Claire's hand dropped to her side and a grim look of determination came to Claire's face. She thought to herself

Okay Rush if that's how you want it, then that's how it will be


	9. Chapter 9 Water

_I do not own the Stargate Franchise, this is not for profit_

**Chapter 9 – Water**

It had been a day since _Destiny_ had had its run-in with the starand mercifully Colonel Young had found Claire some new quarters. But now a new problem had reared its head

Water…or lack thereof

Claire, Greer, Young and Riley were checking out an alarming drop in the ship's water reserves and Riley had decided to entertain Greer and Claire with a story he felt fit the situation and would lift their spirits while Colonel Young checked that water tanks

"Yeah I heard that these Chinese miners survived a cave-in for six days by drinking their own urine" Riley told Claire and Greer who blanched at hearing that, bad images started forming in their minds as they imagined having to do something similar themselves, making them feel sick. Greer said disgusted

"I'm gonna go ahead and pretend I didn't hear that" and then Claire remembered hearing the same story before

"And they ate coal as I recall" she said and Greer turned to her looking on in disbelief

"Yeah, I know stupid, it nearly killed them" Riley confirmed and Claire seeing the look on Greer's face decided to reassure the marine

"Don't worry sergeant, I'm pretty sure that won't happen to us" she said calmingly and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder

Mercifully they were interrupted by the arrival of the Colonel after he'd personally checked the tanks but he didn't come back with good news

"Water level's down again. Your sure nobody went near that compartment on your watch" Colonel Young asked Riley

"Spencer came by and asked if he could have a look in the tank" Riley told him and when Young asked why Riley just said that Spencer was a crazy person and that Riley had said no. Claire couldn't help but agree, Spencer was shifty and a difficult person to get along with at the best of times, and these certainly weren't the best of times

Colonel Young told Riley not to let anyone in without him Okaying it first before he, Greer and Claire left Riley to his duties and from there, and they walked to the Interface Room where they met Rush and Eli

Eli suggested that maybe the water had evaporated when they went through the star but Rush dismissed that as it was a closed system and Claire because if it had evaporated there would be much less water than there actually was. But the fact remained that they were quickly running out of water and after watching Colonel Young and Rush get into one of their arguments again about dialling Earth and the recycling system, Claire decided to bring them back to the matter at hand

"Alright just stop it everyone that'd enough" she said firmly, drawing the attention of the two feuding men and Eli who had been standing quietly in the background "Let me make this simple, we don't have the power to dial Earth and our water situation in getting worse and worse. Can we please focus on one problem at a time, namely that we are running out of water gentlemen" she said trying to bring some focus back to the meeting and its original purpose. But Young seemed intent on something else and took Eli away for some other task, leaving Claire and Rush to get Brody in so the engineer could help them find and fix the problem. They called him on the radio and he soon arrived accompanied by Doctor Lisa Park. They told Brody the problem and he agreed to help and since they had Lisa and Claire as well Claire made a suggestion

"How about me and Lisa get on the gate system and find if there's any water within range while you guys look at the system. Sound good?" she said hoping her fellow scientists would agree. They seemed okay with that except Rush who was disgruntled that she was seemingly usurping him again. But even he thought it was better than wasting time by having four people do a two person job and only solving half the problem and his only real problem was that he'd had with it was that he hadn't thought of it first

So the four of them divided into pairs and went about their tasks, as Brody and Rush went to check the recycling system, Claire and Lisa went to their own console to access the gate system

"There's just one planet, only just coming into range, no information thought" Lisa said and they studied the limited readouts and Claire tried to pull more information from the ship's databanks but it just wasn't there this time

As Brody and Rush completed their checks and proclaimed the recycling system fully operational and in good condition they felt the strange feeling they got when Destiny was dropping out of FTL and the computer read outs said the gate was dialling

"Shall we?" Claire asked her companions and so they went to discover if this planet might be their salvation

* * *

The planet was nasty however, temperature at minus 47% and the atmosphere was poisonous but there was evidence of water based ice on the planet Eli had decided to call Hoth. So to get the water based ice they desperately needed Colonel Young was going to the planet with Lieutenant Scott in the Ancient Environmental suits they'd found. But before the Colonel could suit up, Claire approached him with a request

"Colonel" she said seriously as they started to remove the suits from the cubicles they'd been in

"Yes Claire did you need something?" Young asked her

"I'd like to have a look at one of the main cargo bays I found a few decks below; from what we can tell their airtight and full of cargo boxes. I'd like to go and find out if there is anything useful down there like tools or supplies" she said to him, hoping he'd say yes, it might be a treasure throve of stuff down there. The Colonel looked at her for a moment, assessing whether or not he should grant her request. It wasn't often Claire asked for something and if she did it was generally important.

"If you must, gather a team and head down there. Keep in touch with TJ as she's in command while me and Scott are gone and for the love of god be careful. God knows what's down there" he said and Claire nearly jumped for joy but instead gave him a big smile and said

"Thank you sir" before going to get her team together and she already knew the first person she wanted. Colonel Young watched her leave and gave a small smile of his own

* * *

She knocked on Vanessa's door but got no answer, she started to worry because she wasn't answering her radio and Barnes had said she'd seen her in tears

Finally deciding to risk it, she pushed the door release and as the door opened she saw Vanessa sitting on her bed still in full uniform and in floods of tears that were flowing down her cheeks. Claire immediately rushed over and sat next to her pulling her into a comforting embrace

"What happened?" she asked Vanessa, she'd never seen the female marine and one of her best friends like this. Vanessa managed to stop crying long enough to explain

"Matt he's seeing Chloe, when I caught them together he just pushed past me like I didn't matter, he wouldn't even look at me" she said before starting to cry again and Claire cursed Matthew Scott under her breath. She might have been shocked but they'd both heard rumours about Scott before but just dismissed them when they'd met the man. According to the rumours it wouldn't be the first time Matt had done something like this, going to a new woman when he was bored with his current girlfriend. Before Vanessa it had been a female corporal who'd transferred off Icarus when he'd turned his attention to the newcomer at the time 2nd Lieutenant Vanessa James. Claire tightened her hold on Vanessa and started to make soothing sounds in her ear and rub circles into her back, so Vanessa could just let it out

When Vanessa had finally calmed down, she pulled herself free of Claire's embrace and said

"We should go talk to Chloe, she needs to know what she'd getting into" Claire nodded and so the two women went to see Chloe who was unsurprisingly in her quarters given that she'd didn't have any real role on the ship yet.

Chloe opened her door after they knocked and greeted them with a tired smile; she was happy to see them but worried about Matt and him going to the ice planet. But the grim expressions on Claire and Vanessa's faces as well as Vanessa's red eyes soon turned that smile into a worried frown

"Is everything alright? Nothing's happened to Matt has it?" Chloe asked desperately but Claire shook her head

"No Chloe, as far as we know everything's going fine but we do need to talk to you" Claire told her and Chloe let them in. Once they were all sat down and the door was closed Claire looked over at Vanessa and the female marine nodded. Claire took that as a sign for her to begin

"Chloe we know you've been seeing Matt since we've come on board" Claire started slowly "I think you need to know something before you continue, about how Matt is with women" Chloe looked confused and asked

"What are you talking about?" Matt had been nothing but the perfect boyfriend in the brief time since they'd come together

"Chloe, Matt was seeing Vanessa when we we're back on Icarus" Claire told her and Chloe looked over to Vanessa who nodded and then turned back to Claire who continued "When we came on-board and he started seeing you, he didn't breaking up with Vanessa, he just stopped seeing her without so much as a word" Claire told her and Chloe looked shocked at what she was being told but Claire kept talking

"It isn't the first time he's done something like this. Before Vanessa it was a female corporal back on Icarus but when Vanessa came he did the exact same thing as he's done now. When he's with someone Matt is the perfect boyfriend; considerate, loving and caring as a man can be but he can be a right bastard too, especially when a new woman he likes comes onto the scene. Now I can see in your eyes that you love Matt but we just thought you should know what you're getting into" Claire finished letting Chloe make her decision on what she wanted to do with the new information she'd just received

Chloe was deeply confused; she still loved Matt more deeply than any man she'd ever known but this new knowledge made her hesitate. Would he do the same thing to her someday? The question just kept bouncing around her mind. She resolved to give Matt a chance and hope that he was a better man than they'd made him sound

"Thank you for telling me but I think I need to make my own mistakes" Chloe told them and they nodded and Claire gave her a slight smile and Chloe felt the need to tell them something

"It'd just I feel so useless, there's just nothing I can do to help. When I'm with Matt it doesn't feel as bad"

Claire got up and walked over to Chloe and sat down next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder and made a suggestion

"You could help TJ down in the infirmary, plenty you could do there. Maybe even ask TJ to train you as a field medic" Claire suggested and Chloe decided to think about it but Claire then remembered the initial reason she'd come to see Vanessa

"I was going to go and take a team to explore one of the cargo bays would you two like to join me?" Claire asked and both Vanessa and Chloe smiled and nodded

* * *

Claire then called on other members of the crew; Barnes, Palmer, Dunning and Kwan all answered that they would join her team and so joined by Chloe and Vanessa the seven strong team descended the decks on foot to try and access the bay. The lift wasn't working so they had to take the long way round. They had Kinos to document what they found which under Claire's control followed them, she'd had to endure a tedious lecture from Eli about how to handle the Kino, but it didn't take an expert in astrophysics to figure it out.

Once they arrived at the large doors to the cargo bay, they hit the door release and once the large metal doors parted they were staggered by what they saw.

The bay was dark, the poor lighting meant that the beams of their flashlights cast long beams over a bay that from what they could see could easily house an X-304 and still have space to spare. But they could not see all of it because as Claire had found, it was piled high with cargo boxes the size of a quad bike. Claire set the kinos on search mode, hoping to find a terminal while the group started moving deep into the bay. Claire noted that the big boxes like the ones they found the lime substance in, in a smaller hold near the gate room had a set of symbols on them that Claire could tell were numbers but did not tell what was inside them. Claire watched the Kino feed hoping to spot what they were looking for, if they could find a terminal which gave an inventory of the bay and what was in what box then they wouldn't have to go through each one and investigate its contents one by one, which given the size of the bay, could take years. Finally after nearly an hour one of the Kinos did spot a terminal on its search made, so the team converged on the spot leaving the Kinos to continue the search. They activated the terminal and tried to access the inventory; Claire hooked up her new PDA (one of the Ancient devices she'd discovered in the armoury) to the terminal and downloaded a list so she could examine it later. Doctor Vince Kwan found a hand scanner like they use in supermarkets to scan stock attached to the terminal, they carefully removed it and tested against a nearby box chosen by Kwan since he'd found the scanner by scanning the numbers on the boxes. The scanner's small screen told them it was filled by cutlery, Kwan made a face and Claire quickly let him pick another one

Claire scanned the numbers on the chosen box and it was something useful she smiled again before telling them it said that the box contained

"Clothing"

The group was shock; Palmer had to go over to check it out. They carefully opened the catches and gently lifting the lid off. They all moved over to see what was inside it; there were dozens of slim transparent boxes each one with a set of a jacket, trousers, a t-shirt and male and female underwear. All were made of a white leather like material. Barnes picked on box up and examined it, she carefully opened the box and took the jacket out carefully

"Shouldn't these have like rotted away or something?" Barnes asked

"Ancient stasis technology" Claire said and they all started to pick up some of the boxes to examine them and Chloe asked a question that occurred to her

"Why would they put this stuff here? Why not just bring it with them when they boarded the ship?" Claire thought for a moment but could only shrug.

They looked at some of the other boxes and found some interesting items and pieces of equipment including more clothes, enough for everyone on Destiny to have at least three sets of the Ancient Clothing they'd found. They carried some of the small clothes boxes back with them because without the lift it took half an hour to get between the bay and main area on foot. Once they fixed the lift they would start moving more. Claire would also work on making sense of the inventory so they'd know what they had but it would take a while. They hooked up with TJ and discovered that while they'd been in the bay, some kind of creature from the desert planet had come through the gate while it was open and had attacked the crew and unfortunately killed Gorman. They'd tempted it off the ship though the Stargate using a barrel of water.

Claire made her report to Colonel Young who'd just returned and TJ. But before she started work on the inventory, Claire had two things to do. The second which she would do later is go and work out with Vanessa and Chloe who had asked Vanessa to teach her to fight but the first thing was to have a talk with a certain Lieutenant Matthew Scott

* * *

She found him on a bed in the infirmary where he was dozing after TJ had given him a check over, announcing that he was going to be fine. Her approaching footsteps woke Matt up and he looked over, he gave a weak smile but when he saw the look on Claire's face he grew worried especially when she picked up a knife from TJ's medical instruments and she gently ran it over her jeans as if to test its sharpness. She walked over to Matt who in his weakened state could not move away and Claire sat so close that he could feel her breath on his face. She started to whisper something in his ear

"You think your some kind of player? Sleeping with Vanessa till you get bored and then moving on Chloe, dumping Vanessa like garbage without even telling her she'd been dumped. It makes me sick" she whispered lightly pressing the knife against Matt's chest and his eyes went wide

"When you're able, you are going to apologize to Vanessa" she told, making sound like a matter of fact rather than a suggestion and moved the knife gently without cutting his skin down to the waist band of pant making him take in a sharp intake of breath and then added threateningly "If you ever cheat on or her Chloe in anyway, I'll castrate you" she said with an almost demented grin, and Matt unconsciously gripped the sides of the bed but to his relief Claire got up, put the knife back on the side and before leaving said in a disappointed tone

"I thought you were a better man than this Matt, I know you can be a better man than this so shape up" before turning on her heel and walking out leaving a quaking Matt in her wake


	10. Chapter 10 Earth

_I do not own Stargate Universe _

**Chapter 10 – Earth**

Three days had passed since the water planet and with dust bugs as people had started calling them gone their supplies were holding. They were short on food but the situation was not yet critical, so for the moment they were doing alright. Colonel Young and Camille Wray were going off ship via the stones back to Earth but the crew kept on working.

Eli was walking to the mess hall hoping to catch a bite to eat when he saw Brody talking through a Kino controller to someone on the other end. He walked over and asked Brody

"Hey what you doing?" while peering over the older man's shoulder to see what he was looking at and saw a complicated mass of machinery through the viewer, Brody jerked Eli back a step and said annoyed

"Do you mind we're trying to work here" and Eli unabashed just asked

"We, I just see one of you man" but an annoyed voice on the other end of the Kino spoke up

"Eli do you mind were busy here" Eli realised it was Claire's and repeated his first question

"Hey I'm just curious what are you two working on?" not taking the hint to leave them alone and Brody decided with an annoyed sigh to tell him so hopefully he'd get bored and leave

"We're fixing this part of the elevator system; the ducts to get to the mechanism are too small for me but Claire managed to fit through them and get to it. I'm just talking her through it" Brody explained and gave Claire a new instruction "Now just use the screwdriver to pry open that housing" he told her and she followed orders but Eli seemed determined to stick around and asked another question

"Why are you guys fixing a lift when there are loads of things more important that need fixing?" causing Brody to groan in frustration

"Because if we fix this lift we can move things from the cargo bays more easily and if we fix this lift then it allows us access to other parts of the ship since its jamming a key conduit" Brody explained and turned his attention back to Claire and giving her instructions through the Kino and Eli decided to stick around but did not interrupt them mercifully and soon Claire with Brody's guidance managed to unlock the elevator. Claire dropped down into it and called for it to deliver her to near the gate room; she let out a sigh of relief when it started moving and quickly arrived at her destination. She stepped out of the lift and walked to were Brody was waiting at the entrance to the ducks, oblivious to the looks she was receiving from the people she past in the corridors. When she arrived to see Brody and Eli talking or rather Eli talking to Brody both men looked at her and just stared

"Well it works now maybe we can start moving between here and the cargo bay easier" she said and waited for them to respond but Brody and Eli just kept staring at her, it was quite unnerving and she crossed her arms and asked

"What? What is it?" and Eli gulped before saying

"You might want to get a shower" he said and Claire suddenly looked down at herself and realised why they were staring.

She'd been so caught up in her work that she'd failed to notice that her sweat and grease from the machinery had caused her clothes to cling tightly to her body and her skin to develop a kind of glow almost. Her clothing, today a tank top and white leather trousers were so moulded to her body she might as well not been wearing anything. She sighed and walked off to grab a quick shower before she met Vanessa, TJ and Chloe in the room set aside for working out. She felt eyes on her ass all the way to the shower, she almost blushed but decided to take a leaf of Vala Mal Doran's book and just go with it and so she held her head high as the stares followed her down the hall

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

After a quick shower and changing into a t-shirt and shorts she jogged to the Workout room, finding her three friends already there. TJ was working with some weights they'd improvised from things they'd found and Vanessa was doing sit ups with Chloe. They all stopped when they arrived and got up to meet her but Claire waved them off

"Sorry I'm late, took longer than I expected fixing the lift" she said and they went back to their workout with Claire doing some Tai Chi moves which she taught to Chloe. She and Vanessa had given in to Chloe's request to teach her to fight and so they were doing Tai Chi and physical exercises with her to build up her body before they started doing actual martial arts. They did that for an hour and then an hour of jogging after that before hitting the showers and getting back to their posts, this was going to become their routine every day. Chloe was going to spend the rest of her time in the infirmary learning medicine from TJ or getting martial arts and weapons training from Vanessa. Matt was avoiding Claire after what had happened in the Infirmary a few days before but Claire felt confident she'd got her point across.

So after Chloe and TJ had gone off to work in the infirmary, Vanessa was organising the armoury after moving the last of the energy weapons and their rechargers into the makeshift room they'd set aside. Claire was going to get back to finishing her analysis of the inventory.

Some of the items she was finding in there could be incredibly valuable, things like; Ancient versions of hard drives for external data storage, fabrics for clothing, seeds for plants, hydroponics equipment and tools amongst others. There were other things that she couldn't identify like something called the Cubile Medicus, loosely translated 'Doctor Bed' which might be a medical tool but they wouldn't know till they found and dug it out of storage. But there was also something called which didn't properly translate but had the word Renovo in its name, which meant repair that they'd had to investigate.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX**

A few hours later when Young and Wray returned to _Destiny_, the news quickly spread.

Earth had found a way to get them home.

At first Claire was ecstatic at the chance to return to Earth, but when she heard about what they were suggesting she nearly fainted, using _Destiny_ as a conduit to channel the power from a star to dial Earth.

She took one look at the numbers and quickly came to the only possible outcome of such an attempt using these numbers. They were going to die and so she took her conclusions to Colonel Young, Camille Wray and Rush hoping to stop this madness in its tracks, but was disappointed

"Claire I understand your concerns but my hands are tied. The President wants this done as soon as possible" Colonel Young told her. Claire decided to at least try to get it put on hold for now till they could stop it

"Well at least have Samantha Carter or Rodney Mckay look at these numbers. They know the gates better than anyone. Everything Sam taught me screams that this will only get us killed" Claire said desperately. Camille Wray looked on with uncertainty in her eyes and Rush looked almost pleased but about what she didn't know.

Colonel Young looked her in the eye and sighed when he saw her determination. He said "Alright I'll try to get them to hold back on the attempt till we've got Colonel Carter or Rodney Mckay to confirm whether it's safe or not" he told her and could only sigh again as he thought about how much of a struggle that would be.

Claire said a strained "Thank you Colonel" before walking out of the Colonel's quarters and back towards her own before she heard a voice call after her

"Claire wait" she turned around and saw Rush was running after her and she tensed up, what did he want? She thought

"Yes" Claire acknowledged and he looked around as if to see if there was anyone around and seeing no-one he looked back at her

"You reached the same conclusion that I did; this course of action will only end with our deaths. We both know that those crackpots on Earth will get their way because to them we are just an experiment" he told her and she nodded. Some of those crackpots had been working at the SGC when she'd been there and half their work was generally second rate, that was part of the reason why scientists like Sam and Mckay were in such high demand they didn't make those kinds of mistakes

"Those idiots are going to kill us for the sake of their experiment and when it goes wrong they'll stick it on us, saying that it must have been a fault on our part to save their own skins" she agreed

"Well we need to make sure that they don't get the chance won't we" he said in a sly voice

"What are you suggesting?" she asked already knowing it but wanting him to confirm

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX**

After Rush told Claire his plan, she was a little hesitant to go along with it given how underhand it was but she agreed that it was the only way to save everyone and stop those idiots from Earth from using them as lab rats again. So with Rush she started to make the appropriate preparations.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX**

She was disappointed to hear that when Young and Wray returned from Earth again that the idiot scientists had gotten their way. Sam wasn't on Earth and Mckay was busy with the preparations for taking Atlantis back to the Pegasus Galaxy so they could continue the war with the Wraith. The IOA had tried to keep Atlantis on Earth but with the Wraith such a big threat the protection offered by Atlantis was essential especially now that the Wraith were trying to get to Earth.

So she was Rush continued with their plan, making sure that there were safeties in place to save everyone and arguing the dangers of the plan. They watched as everyone bustled about and felt the hope in the air. Claire felt sad that they were going to be disappointed but at least they'd be alive to find another way home she reassured herself.

At least under Colonel Young she'd felt safe, knowing that if it looked like it was going wrong he'd stop it to keep them all safe. But she'd become nervous when Colonel Young, Eli and Chloe had been replaced by Telford and two of the idiot scientists if they were even worthy of the name Williams and McCormick. Claire had always hated Telford; he'd tried it on with her again and again and even once felt her up on Icarus. She'd given him a dislocated shoulder that day as he didn't know that she was a black belt in several martial arts which she did as a way to exercise and let off steam. He'd been too ashamed to let anyone know the truth and said it was an accident.

She'd been in the briefing when they'd had the details explained to them and despite having voiced her objections and even having the visitors admitting that the plan 'might not' work but still insisted it was worth a try and unfortunately most of the crew went for it. Greer was locked up by Telford simply because he could and he had a beef with the Sergeant.

Rush and Claire continued to try and convince others about the truth but no-one was listening, they were too caught up in the chance of going home.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX**

Later as Brody and Riley had been conducting repairs in spacesuits an explosion had almost killed Riley, Claire, Brody and Rush waited outside the infirmary after Brody dragged him back to hear his prognosis.

TJ came out of the infirmary with a worried expression on her face, Brody got up to meet her and all she could say was that it was going to be touch and go before going off to tell Colonel Telford. As the three of them peered in through the open door and stared at Riley who was motionless on the bed.

Claire turned to Rush and he nodded sensing her question without her asking it. She looked at the ash faced Brody and said

"Brody we your help to stop this happening again" and a still shocked Brody turned to her and asked

"What are you talking about?" Claire let Rush explain

"The plan those idiots have put together is going to fail, they're still going ahead with it even after what happened to Riley and the risks involved. Both I and Claire had looked at the plan and run it a thousand times, it only ever ends with failure and us dying inside the star" Rush told Brody "We need to stop them"

"How?" Brody asked

"By putting safeties in place to stop it" Claire told him "Rush and I have already started but it would be a lot easier if you would help us" she looked to him hoping that he would agree.

Brody looked at Riley again for a few moments, he turned back to look at them and nodded

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX**

Hours later as the preparations were complete everyone gathered in the gate room while they waited for the attempt, Claire waited with Rush at the gate control with Brody watching from a far. As the ship plunged into the star and began to recharge itself, Volker, Williams and McCormick channelled power to the gate ready to start dialling. Telford gave the order to start dialling and everyone watched as the lights on the gate lit up and spun around to align the correct symbols.

But then the first sign that something was going wrong started just as Claire and Rush predicted when after the third chevron engaged the ship began to shake and electrical discharges started flaring around the gate. Scott had everyone stay as far back from the gate as possible.

Brody had McCormick and Williams bring the power level down but it did no good and soon the discharges were becoming very violent, the two scientists wearing Eli and Chloe's bodies looked on powerless as both Claire and Rush were proved right and the ship couldn't handle the needed power. The shield began to fail and even Williams said that we needed to abort; Telford hesitated for a while as the trembling got more intense before shouting "Shut it down" and Williams said after his attempt failed "The system's not responding"

The three visitors looked at each other before walking out of the gate room and towards the communications lab, Scott shouted after them but they ignored him. Claire, Rush and Brody looked at each other and Brody went to follow as Scott turned to Rush and Claire and urged them to "Do something" but Rush and Claire waited for Brody's signal

"They're gone" Brody's voice called out over the radio and Claire and Rush went to work, they instantly shut the gate down and the trembling stop and the lights returned to their normal level. Everyone looked shocked and Rush stepped forward to speak

"Ladies and Gentlemen if you haven't already guessed we will not be going home today, not yet anyway" he added to keep hope alive

"But you can all relax and return to your quarters, the ship will not be exploding at least not today" he reassured them and Scott asked him if the power levels would be at normal soon and Rush assured him they would be. Everyone started to make their way back to their rooms with disappointment written all over their faces. Camille and TJ walked up to Rush and Claire and looked at Rush with suspicion

"You staged the whole thing" Camille said accusingly at Rush and Claire decided to own up herself

"Not alone" and Brody nodded, everyone looked at the three of them shocked

"So all of this was to get rid of Telford" TJ said

"Had to be done" Rush told her

"So you're saying that the ship was never going to explode?" Greer asked him and Claire answered this time

"If Rush, Brody and I hadn't put certain safeties in place then we would certainly all be dead" she told them "We also added a bit of theatricality with some alarms and warnings to go off for effect" she said and Camille, Scott, TJ and Greer just looked at them amazed

"You could have warned us you scared the crap out of us" Scott said annoyed and Claire said

"WE did warn you that their plan was never going to work but we were ignored and we didn't know who was on our side" she told Scott and Rush, Claire and Brody left to go to check everything was alright.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX**

"Colonel Telford removed not only any sense of command but the two scientists who designed and implemented the program that was causing the crisis" Colonel Young told the board back at Homeworld Command as he reported back, Camille and Claire had accompanied him

"The situation appeared to be irreversible" Williams said trying to defend himself but Young continued on ignoring him

"Fortunately Doctor Rush and Claire Williams were able to avert the disaster" Young finished

"We liked like to see how they were able to do that along with any data collected during the experiment" Williams said and Young pounced on his wording

"Those are people's lives you were experimented with" and Williams and McCormick had the grace to look ashamed but Claire decided to make it clear to the people there what had happened

"The three of you ran away leaving us to die to save your own skins while yet another pathetically badly thought out project of yours ends in near disaster, just like when you attempted to install wormhole drive on the Daedalus last year and wouldn't be on the ship to see it through. The only reason we didn't lose the ship was because Doctor Zelenka was on-board and he managed to shut it down before it went critical but that still didn't stop you putting the blame on Colonel Caldwell only for the inquiry to clear him" Claire told them angrily

"We were trying to help" Telford argued back but Young put him in his place

"You cut and ran, leaving no one in charge in a life and death emergency" and he turned to General O'Neill and Carl Strom the Head of the IOA and were frustrated to be told they Colonel Telford was following orders as were the two scientists so they wouldn't be punished. Colonel Young decided to get to the point

"After much deliberation we have decided to stay in communication with Earth, I hope that personal visits for everyone will still be permitted"

Carl Strom started to object "That depends Colonel" but Colonel O'Neill stepped in

"Consider it done" Strom looked annoyed at the General

"Thank you sir" Colonel Young told his mentor before he went back to the Stone Room and Claire stepped forward and asked

"Can I speak to you for a moment alone General?" O'Neill said "Of course" and they stepped into his office

"Claire I know your disappointed but" the General started but Claire cut him off

"Damn right I' am but that's not what this is about" she said

"Well?" O'Neill asked

"I want to give my stone time to TJ so she can study more on Earth to improve her medical skills, I'm sure Doctor Lam would be willing to take her place on _Destiny_ for a while" Claire told him and O'Neill looked at her in surprise

"But don't you want to visit people on Earth?" O'Neill asked her feeling that this noble gesture was a reluctant one

"The only people I want to visit are SG-1 and most of the time they're off-world themselves, you know I don't have any family left. I think TJ would feel a bit more confident in her role as the ship's medical officer if she had some more training under her belt" Claire told him and he thought about for a moment before nodding "I'll arrange it"

"Thank you" Claire nodded smiling now before asking

"How's Sam?" she asked

"Annoyed about having to go on maternity leave in a couple of months but otherwise she's glowing. Vala's already buying baby clothes and everything" O'Neill told her smiling before "The President arranged an exception to the fraternization regs given our service to Earth, but her getting pregnant was as much as a surprise to her as to me" he said feeling happy that he was going to be a father again despite his anxiety over what had happened to his other son.

"Give her and the others my best" Claire said before giving him a hug and walking to the stone room to join Colonel Young

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Camille meanwhile was talking to Carl Strom

"I need to access Claire Williams file to fill some of the gaps in my files on _Destiny_" Camille asked him

Carl Strom said "I'll get you the right clearance level by your next visit but her file is sealed"

"Why?" Camille asked

Strom just said "It was sealed by order of General O'Neill when she joined the Stargate Program, said what happened in her past was her business" he didn't much care either way

Camille was intrigued, what did Claire have to hide?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X**


	11. Chapter 11 Time

_I DO NOT OWN Stargate Universe; this is not made for any profit_

**Chapter 11 – Time**

The visits to Earth were proceeding as planned and they had started to look at the planets they were coming across to find food. Eli had come to Claire asking for lessons on wormhole theory, astrophysics and things like that, so Claire agreed to teach him. They just found a jungle planet that had what looked like eatable vegetation. So a team was being sent through the gate to check it out only to come back with a Kino that they'd found on the planet with a full databank.

Watching it was horrifying, seeing themselves getting sick and then attacked by those strange alien creatures. Eli paused the recording while they saw Chloe killed and the aforementioned girl was sick after seeing her alternate self-dying.

"Okay what the" Eli said confused as was everyone else about what they'd just seen "So keep watching" he suggested as no suggestions were fore coming.

Colonel Young nodded his head and so Eli wet to resume play but Chloe asked him to fast forward past the moments of her 'death'. The playback resumed with a picture of Eli making a report looking hot and miserable

"Chloe's dead" were the first words out of his mouth ad Claire looked over at the real Eli sitting in front of the screen "James, Spencer, Marston, Brody all dead" the picture of Eli told them the picture became fuzzy and the alternate Eli struggled to keep it working "Something's wrong with the gate. Rush doesn't think we can use even after what's happened" and alternate Eli took out a roll of duct tape and started strapping the Kino onto a helmet

"We can't reach Destiny on the radio so apparently we're trapped here" Alternate Eli said and Claire walked over to put a comforting hand on the real Eli's shoulder and they continued watching. Alternate Eli explained that the creatures seemed to be nocturnal and stopped coming when the sun came up and their situation. He said Volker had died of the illness they'd picked up during the night and how everyone who survived was getting sick, but Rush kept interrupting him and Eli had told them it was important to document it.

The images told them how Scott was bitten by one of the creatures and had fallen into a coma; the image of TJ was tending to him. Greer walked out after seeing the body bags of those who died and the Colonel called after him that that they were under quarantine after going to the planet to pick up the Kino.

They continued watching the playback as the survivors holed up in a cave to protect themselves if they had to stay another night and Eli and TJ trading life stories especially when TJ's dad had cut himself and stitched himself up while making clothes and Eli said how his mom had been infected with HIV. And how Rush and Eli had a heart to heart about Ascension. Claire walked out and went to sit on her own for a while as she thought about Ascension.

The concept of it was so alluring; Daniel had even imparted to her what he could about after he'd ascended before returning to the physical world. Infinite knowledge, to not be constrained by a physical body to live forever was so awe inspiring it made her want to try it but she also knew the draw back like the rules about not interfering in the physical world and the uncaring nature that they developed.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a radio call from Young asking her to return to the Kino Room where she watched the now recovered Scott throw the damaged Kino through the unstable wormhole and it landed next to a dead Rush who had gone through earlier.

Rush immediately said "It went back in time"

Claire added "And by doing so it created a new timeline with its introduction so you guys didn't stay on the planet" and they both walked off to the gate room followed by a confused Young and Eli

"What are you doing?" Eli asked as Rush and Claire checked the gate consoles

"Making sure it hasn't happened yet" Rush said simply

"What hasn't happened yet?" Eli asked

"The solar flare" Claire told him confusing the Colonel and Eli more

"What on Earth are you two going on about?" Young asked getting annoyed as Rush dialled up the gate

"When a wormhole gets too close to a star and a solar flare erupts it makes the wormhole unstable resulting in time travel for any people travelling through it at the same time. A similar event sent SG-1 back to 1969 in the second year of the Stargate Program" she told them as simply as she could and comprehension dawned on Young's and Eli's faces.

"Oh my god Back to the Future" Eli said as his brain clicked in only for Rush and Claire to glare at him

"Don't get me started on that movie" Claire said

"The 'us' on that recording dropped out of FTL and went to the planet" Rush said getting them back to the matter at hand "Sometime later a solar flare occurred preventing normal gate travel."

"So Scott thought that he was sending the Kino back to the _Destiny_ but he was really sending it back to the planet in the past" Eli said as he tried to make sense of what he was being told and Rush nodded to show he was correct.

"God that is so weird to think that that was really us on that Kino" he said

"Us in a previously unaltered timeline" Rush reminded him

The dialling finished and the wormhole erupted as normal from the gate, but it appeared normal so clearly the flare hadn't happened yet.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX**

A while later they were in the Infirmary looking at the recording again, specifically the part when Scott recovered and aid that although where he'd been bitten still hurt he was feeling better

"It's possible I guess the venoms of various animals, snakes, spiders, scorpions they've all been tested for their antibiotic properties" TJ told them as she watched.

"Wait, you're saying that the thing that bit me can actually cure what's making everybody sick?" the real Scott asked

"You fell into a coma" TJ said with a shrug "It obviously released some kind of venom when it bites. You apparently survived; you said you were feeling better"

"But you were just guessing, what if those things were…well…" Eli said but was unable to finish

"Based on this video, people are going to die from this infection and quickly" TJ told them before turning to face Colonel Young and saying "I know that it's a wild stab in the dark, but I don't know what else to do"

"Well we've all been exposed" Colonel Young answered "So it's just a matter of time before we all get it, right?" he asked and TJ nodded confirming their worst fears

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Colonel Young, Greer and Lieutenant Scott had decided to go through the gate and capture some the creature in hope of getting their venom while the sickness became more apparent on _Destiny_. Claire saw the three men off before going to help TJ in the Infirmary.

Eli stood next to Chloe who had been one of the first to go down with it and held her hand as she became unconscious. The pain in the back of the neck which was one of the symptoms of the infection was soon felt by everyone as TJ, Lisa Park and Claire worked hard to do something but they could nothing to stop what was going to happen, just like it had to Volker on the planet. As Chloe's pulse got weaker and weaker.

TJ told Eli to be prepared as Claire tended to Vanessa who'd come down with it just as fast as Chloe. They both heard Eli's declaration of love to Chloe and tears fell down their cheeks. TJ checked Chloe's pulse and found none. When she told him that Chloe had gone, he looked at Chloe for a moment and walked out. Lisa, Claire and TJ cried as they put the blanket over Chloe's body.

Later as the death toll started to mount, TJ broke down into sobs in the corridor as the weight of what was happening started to crush her. The team hadn't reported back yet and the condition of her patients was getting worse. Both Lisa and Claire comforted TJ as best they could while Claire hated the injustice of it all, worse something she'd noticed, that she wasn't experiencing any of the symptoms.

She knew that her enhanced immune system left over from when she was carrying Maylin had probably killed the infection dead, but it was useless in curing everyone as they didn't have the equipment or materials to use her antibodies to make a cure. She decided to keep this from the others, it wouldn't cure them and hope at this point only for it to be dashed was too cruel.

The wormhole distortion started an hour after Chloe died, by now all of the crew except Claire were coming down with it. Claire now new there was no chance of curing people now, by the time the solar flare had ended they'd have gone back into FTL and beyond the cure.

After Eli had died and Lisa with him, TJ could go on no longer and Claire helped her back to her quarters where they lay down together and held each other as they waited for the inevitable to happen.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The feeling of _Destiny_ going back into FTL woke her; she looked to see TJ had died in her arms at some point since they'd gone to sleep; Claire got up and pulled the blanket over TJ and in a daze walked through the corridors.

While she had slept the virus had done its job and everyone was dead, Rush lay slumped against the Control Room wall, Eli and a number of others on the observation deck. All over the ship there were bodies.

She should use the stones to tell Earth what had happened she supposed but everything around her seemed as if it was far away and she was disconnected from it. She sat in the middle of the mess hall and surrounded by bodies just sat holding her knees to her chest. Her mind kept returning to her earlier thoughts about ascension, and how she'd wanted to try it. Now she didn't really have a choice, she couldn't manage on her own.

So she changed into a meditation position and started to meditate

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX**

_Remember that this is the time line before Scott sends the warning Kino back, the next chapter will continue as they cured themselves thanks to Scott's warning _


	12. Chapter 12 Life

_I do not own Stargate Universe_

"__" Radio talk_

**Chapter 12 – Life**

It was what they had come to call a normal day on _Destiny_, they weren't struggling for the lives against system faults or shortage of supplies, no illness was threatening to kill them all and for the most part the crew was getting along. They finally found and dug out the Cubile Medicus from the cargo bay and had discovered it was indeed a medical tool, similar to the Gouald Sarcophagus perhaps the forerunner of the device. It used special kinds of radiation to promote healing but was designed to be used on Ancients so it would be some time before they could modify it to work on humans, at its current settings it would probably kill anyone who tried to use it.

But they had found a use for it; even if they couldn't use it to heal they could still scan people with and determine what problems they had. TJ had dubbed it the Healing Bed and with her new assistant Chloe was already making use of it to diagnose her patients. But today everyone was alright and going on with their daily routine, Chloe was with Vanessa and Claire on the observation deck practising martial arts and doing some Yoga as well and Scott was doing an exercise group down in the workout space.

After finishing their session, the three girls hit the showers only to discover a Kino watching them getting undressed. Vanessa threw her t-shirt over it and all three promised to get Eli or whoever was responsible for this back.

After finishing their shower and changing into fresh clothes the girls told Colonel Young about it so he could warn the rest of the women on _Destiny_ about Kinos spying on them and went for a meal in the mess hall. They met up with TJ and noticed she looked a little pale and Claire asked as they sat down what was wrong. TJ just distractedly shook her head and said that she was fine and put a hand protectively over her abdomen. The three other young women weren't buying it and they decided to get TJ alone later to find out what it was.

They all went their separate ways to do whatever jobs they had; Vanessa was leading the team that was going to explore a newly opened up area of the ship with Greer, Chloe was going to work in the infirmary and Claire was going to work on some of her own projects in her quarters. When she got to her room she looked at her own space and she started to feel comfortable. The walls was pasted with designs and schematics for various pieces of equipment she was designing, next to her bed there were some pictures she always took with her, the first was of herself and Sam on motorbikes smiling at the camera, the next one was of herself, TJ and Vanessa on Icarus doing some mountain climbing outside of the base and then another one of the three of them with the spires of Atlantis behind them. Her laptop was set up on the desk and a disassembled energy pistol was next to it with some of the tools they'd recovered from the cargo bays.

She sat down at her makeshift desk and went to work on the virtual model she'd constructed on her laptop with extra storage space from the ancient hard drives they'd found. The virtual model was of a spaceship class she was creating called the X-306 or Avasta class, it was a destroyer sized craft to complement the X-304 class and the planned X-305 class. But also she was working on the Subspace Capacitor like what had been observed by the Atlantis Expedition on the alternate _Daedalus_. Progress on both projects was going very well, it was true getting this data back to Earth would not be easy but via the stones it could be done. She was also getting to grips with _Destiny's_ technology, she reckoned she might be able to build one of the energy pistols or rifles if she had the parts and was working on integrating a few lessons learned from the Asgard Energy beam weapons to make them more powerful.

She wrote her notes up on her laptop and did her usual double security, on top of encrypting her work she also wrote her notes in Gouald. As far as she knew she was the only one on board who could read or write it.

She was working well till TJ's voice sounded on the radio

"_Claire come in"_ Claire stopped typing for a minute and picked up her radio answering

"_Yes TJ?"_ Claire asked

"_I need to do Psych evaluations on all the crew, your next on my list"_ TJ told her and Claire sighed shutting down her laptop

"_Where?"_ Claire asked

"_My quarters, right now"_ TJ told her and Claire replied as she got up to leave

"_On my way" _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX**

"So what do you want to talk about?" Claire asked as she sat opposite TJ who had a clipboard and pen in her hand

"How you're doing, what you're feeling?" TJ asked trying to get the ball rolling

"Concerning?" Claire asked

"Life on the ship" TJ clarified and Claire thought for a minute

"Well as much as it sucks to be stuck on the ship I feel okay, I'm adjusting" Claire told her "I mean that I don't have much back home, no family but I do miss SG-1 especially Sam. I miss some of my friends like Haley and Cassandra but there's not a lot back there for me" Claire said, TJ was her best friend, and if she couldn't open to her who could she open up too?

TJ nodded and made some notes "Is there anyone you don't feel at ease with?" she asked and Claire rolled her eyes

"Aside from my obvious problems with Rush not really. I don't like Scott a lot at the moment after what happened with Vanessa and Chloe but I don't hate him, just respect him a lot less nowadays" Claire told her feeling better for getting her feelings out. "My projects are going okay and I'm close to finishing the subspace capacitor and I'm starting to understand _Destiny's_ technology"

"So you think things are going well then?" TJ asked her and Claire shrugged

"As well as they can be under the circumstances, I mean we are starting to learn what we need to learn to survive, take Chloe I mean she was her father's assistant but now she's learning to protect herself and how to heal or Eli who's finally putting his own genius to work" Claire said citing her newest friends as examples and decided to ask TJ something

"How are your lessons going back on Earth?"

TJ smiled and said "Very well I'm filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge and I certainly feel better in my role" and TJ asked "You're not unhappy about giving up your stone time are you?"

"No" Claire said shaking her head "With Sam and the rest of SG-1 off-world so much I can't see them most of the time, I might ask for some of it back once Sam's on maternity leave but you need it more than I do" Claire said trying to reassure TJ. She decided to try and find out why TJ was acting strangely

"If you don't mind me asking, are you alright?" Claire asked TJ watching for her reaction, acting on a hunch

"What, oh yeah, I'm fine" TJ said a little too quickly and wrapped her arms around her middle. Claire felt sure enough now to ask outright

"Are you pregnant TJ?" Claire asked and TJ's eyes went wide and her mouth tensed and answered a little too quickly

"No No! What would make you think that?" TJ denied and tried to deflect her away but Claire just stared. TJ knew the game was up and nodded and Claire gave her a smile and reached across to put her hand on TJ's shoulder.

"I just had some symptoms and I wasn't sure, so I did a scan of myself with the healing bed and there it was inside me" TJ told her "About a month or so along according to the size" she bowed her head

Claire felt she had to ask "Have you told him?"

TJ looked up and said "Who?"

"Colonel Young of course, he is the father isn't he" Claire said not really asking a question and TJ got a bit red faced

"Of course he's the dad, I don't sleep around you know" and Claire put her hand up

"Hey just making sure, but have you told him?" Claire said and TJ shook her head to indicate no.

"TJ you didn't get pregnant by yourself and he needs to take responsibility for this, it's his child as much as yours" Claire said

"It's just he's married and my commanding officer" TJ said with a sadness, unsure of what to do and was hoping for some more time to figure things out

"That didn't stop you two before did it" Claire reminded her "And if you've forgotten his wife is several billion light-years away and he is a good man at heart, he'll help you" Claire reassured her and sat down next TJ with her arm around her shoulders

"I know but I don't want him to split from his wife just for the sake of the baby" TJ said and Claire nearly laughed

"TJ he and his wife were already having problems before he came to Icarus" TJ remembered him saying as much to her "And I have seen the look in his eyes when he looks at you. That's love as sure as sure can be" Claire told her and TJ revealed her other fear

"And it's the idea of raising a child on this ship, never knowing what's coming next or where we're going, rusting away and damaged all over the place. How would any child be safe here" and TJ buried her head in her hands and Claire rocked her gently

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Claire had left TJ to go and talk Young herself while she went to resume her work, but just as she got to the doors of her quarters her radio sounded again this time it was calling her to one of the newly unlocked areas of the ship. She sighed and made her way there with the feeling that this was going to be the start of yet another problem.

When she got there Colonel Young, Rush and Greer were all waiting for her in a room with several control panels and a rather interesting looking chair in the centre of the room with electrodes placed near where the person if they'd been sitting in its head would be.

"Neural interface?" Colonel Young asked aloud

"A precursor to an Ancient device discovered by SG-1 several years ago" Rush told them, Claire was amazed when she saw it and was told what it was. The Ancient Depository was one of the most incredible pieces of technology that had been discovered and she couldn't help but be excited by whatever secrets that might be within.

"A repository of knowledge that can be literally downloaded into one's mind" Rush continued to explain to those who had never heard of this kind of device before. Colonel Young would know because he had read the reports from the previous incidents where such devices had been encountered.

"And you think this could be one of those things?" Young asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach

"Within that knowledge might be the master code to unlock the ship's systems" Rush suggested "Navigation, propulsion" he suggested like he was trying to wet an appetite

"You're sure?" Young asked not taking the bait

"Well we can't be certain till someone actually sits in the chair" Rush said determined to try it out. Claire shot him an alarmed look when she remembered the effect these things had on a normal human brain.

"It looks like it holds you down and shoots bolts into your head" Greer said when he looked at the chair close up

"These are merely electrodes allowing the transfer of data" Rush said quickly to dissuade that opinion

Colonel Young it seemed remembered the dangers such a device posed as well and asked Rush a serious question "Do you know what a device like this did to General O'Neill?"

Rush seemed reluctant to answer but knew Young would force it out of him anyway "The sheer amount of information overwhelmed him"

"It damn near killed him, is what it did" Young said pressing his point but Rush tried to push forward

"It led to incredible discoveries…" but Colonel Young kept going "And it damn near killed him, in fact the only thing we know for sure is that an Ancient device like this is pretty much a death sentence"

He turned to face Greer "No one sits in this thing, I want a guard detail posted" Greer nodded and Rush said frustrated

"So what are we going to do Colonel? Just ignore what this device could do for us?" with anger lacing every word.

"I'm not telling you to ignore it" Colonel Young said calmly not letting himself get riled up by Rush "I'm telling you to study it without sitting in it"

Rush continued to argue despite this concession "But Colonel, this predates those found in the Milky Way. I'd be willing to bet the effects are far less severe" and Claire scoffed drawing attention to herself

"You forget Rush that by this point the Ancients were already far beyond us physically and had been in space for nearly ten million years and this device was built for them. Not to mention that this ship has been collecting data for over forty million years so we have no idea of how large the database is and without full control it will simply dump the information into your brain all at once"

"Would you bet your own life?" Colonel Young asked jumping on the point she'd brought up and when Rush failed to respond Young said "So you're fine then as long as someone else volunteers?" Rush stayed silent

"Hell if it means getting these people home, I'll sit in the damn thing" Greer said and Claire smiled at his attempt to be noble but shook her head

"That's gallant of you Greer but the simple truth is this device might just turn you into a mindless gibbering vegetable, without further study or full control of the database it'll more likely just kill you" Claire told him and then the radios came to life with Vanessa's voice

"_Colonel Young, come in"_ the Colonel took his radio off his belt and answered

"_Go ahead" _

"_Colonel Telford's in the communications lab. He's switched bodies with Scott and wants to talk to you"_Vanessa told him and he told her he was on his way before turning back to face Rush tried again to plead his case

"Colonel, so far I've only been able to access portions of _Destiny's_ database. We still can't actually control the ship" and Young shot him down again

"Even if we could turn this thing around right now, head back to Earth, how long would it take another million years?" Young asked annoyed that Rush didn't seem to get that he wasn't about to let someone just sit in the chair "Rush you want this chair to be some kind of wonderful discovery that fine" he said "Prove it, you prove we can use this thing safely to do something that we actually need it to do, until then no-one goes near it" he finished before leaving but not without leaving Rush with his concession. Claire went over to him and decided to throw him a bone

"Perhaps if we created some kind of buffer that could slow or filter the information being fed in we might make it safer" but Rush didn't seem to hear her and left in a huff. Claire decided to let him go and went to the control panels to study the interfaces and data they could access.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X**

Meanwhile back on Earth Camille Wray was being ambushed by her supervisor Carl Strom who was telling her she might want to start cultivating a following of her own on _Destiny_ but Camille was unsure. But before she got in the car to go home and see Sharon, Carl handed her a folder

"Claire Williams's file, I got it unsealed for you, just make sure to return it before you go back to _Destiny_" he told her and walked away. Once she was buckled up and the officer who was escorting her home had started the car she opened the folder and saw the mug shot of Claire and statistics about her:

_Full Name – Claire Amelia Williams_

_Date of Birth – 17__th__ February 1986_

_Current Age - 23_

_Birthplace – Wrexham North Wales, United Kingdom_

_Nationality - British_

_Hair Colour – Red _

_Eye Colour – Light Blue_

_Height – 5ft8_

_Father – Magus Williams (Deceased) _

_Mother – Amelia Williams nee Roslin (Deceased)_

_Current Assignment – Destiny Expedition, Civilian Scientist_

_Previous Assignment – Geologist assigned to Icarus Base/Assistant to Doctor Nicolas Rush_

_Previous/Current Projects = _

_X-305 Cruiser Design Project (Completed)_

_Gate Capable Hover Vehicles Design Team (Completed) _

_X-302 Interceptor Variants Design Project (Completed)_

_Subspace Capacitor Research (On-going)_

_Portable DHD (Completed)_

_X-306 Destroyer Design Project (On-going)_

_Research in Ancient Spaceship Destiny (On-going)_

_ATA Gene - Positive_

_Areas of Expertise/Roles = _

_Ancient Technology Expert_

_Mathematics_

_Chemist_

_Computer Programmer_

_Physicist (in several areas such as Astrophysics, Quantum Mechanics and Wormhole Theory) – taught by Colonel Samantha Carter_

_Linguist (in many languages) – taught by Doctor Daniel Jackson_

_Additional Skills = _

_Black belts in Several Martial Arts _

_Weapons Training _

After Camille looked through the statistical data she had to wonder why one of the bright new stars of the SGC, a 23 year old prodigy would have been sent to be an assistant on a relatively backwater research project rather than kept on Earth and used to her full potential. She continued reading and saw glowing letters of recommendation from her mentors in SG-1 and a few others like General Landry, notes from the incident where she became the temporary host of the Tok'ra queen and the usual medical reports and psychological profiles. But then it came to the part about her background and earlier life, Camille's eyes widened when she read it

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile back on _Destiny_, Claire was loosening up her muscles after sitting still so long after finishing up her notes by doing some Tai Chi and Tai Kwon Do in the exercise room. She did martial arts as a way of keeping herself fit and of relieving stress.

Usually she practiced with Vanessa but the female marine was busy and so she was practising alone, she was interrupted by Eli as she was just in the middle of her katas.

"Hey did you hear about it?" Eli said and Claire had tried to keep going with her katas and answer him but she had to slow down

"Heard what?" she asked as she moved from one punch or kick to the next, Eli couldn't help but stare at her, especially now her body was clad in exercise shorts and a thin tank top.

"Rush found an Icarus type planet in the database, he says that if we get control of the ship, it's only a year away" Eli told her excitedly but as much as this excited Claire too, she couldn't help but be suspicious of this. She stopped doing her katas and stood face to face with Eli

"I'd like to see that data" She said to him and picked up a towel and wiped the sweat off her face

"Why?" Eli asked her and trying not to dash his hopes till she was sure, Claire decided to say

"Just to make sure that we can use it to get home Eli that's all and to check Rush's distance calculations" she said to reassure Eli and headed straight for the Apple Core.

When she got there it was deserted and she went up to the main console and accessed the data, she saw the information displayed and for a moment she was excited it seemed that the data said exactly what Eli had said it did, an Icarus like planet about a year away at FTL and she thought for a moment that Rush was telling the truth, a small smile formed on her mouth.

But then she saw notes that were attached to the statistics all adding together to form a complex and detailed report, she looked at the little comments and the writing style of the report. The smile disappeared from her face and her fists clenched and started shaking in barely controlled rage. She stalked out of the control room and down the corridor; she walked in on Park Brody and Volker all discussing the news about the supposed 'planet' and whether or not they could use the Chair to find out the master code. Their discussion infuriated Claire even more and she stormed into the room and asked in a strained voice

"Where's Rush?" they all turned to face her and were startled by the fury on her face and didn't answer so Claire asked again "Where's Rush?"

"He was in the Mess Hall last time I saw him" Lisa said, then asking "Are you alright?" Claire had to suppress her temper and reached for her radio

"_Becker come in"_ Claire called out and a minute or so later the Airman responded

"_Go ahead"_ and Claire asked

"_Is Rush still in the Mess Hall?"_ and Becker answered

"_Yeah he's trying to get support to use that Chair thing they found to get to the planet"_ Becker told her and Claire glared; the Chair this was all about that stupid chair.

"_Thank you Becker"_ she said in as clam a voice as she could manage and then clicked off her radio before making another call

"_Colonel Young come in"_ and almost immediately Young answered

"_Yes Claire what is it?"_ he asked

"_Meet me in the Mess Hall please, there's something you need to hear"_ she told him and he said

"_Okay"_ and then clicked off

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire led a bewildered Park, Brody and Volker to the Mess Hall and they met Young on the way

"Okay what is it Claire?" Young asked and Claire said simply

"We need to see Rush Colonel" and she kept leading the group to the Mess Hall were Rush was holding court trying to get sympathy to use the chair to get to his newly discovered planet. The hopeful looks on the faces of the crew was sobering for Claire and made her so angry

Without further word she walked right up to Rush and with no warning at all, punched Rush right in the face, sending him to the ground with blood coming from his nose and Claire screamed as she let her rage loose

"YOU BASTARD DID YOU THINK I WOULD'T NOTICE" and the startled crew looked on as Claire went to punch Rush again only for Greer to grab her and pull her away

"Notice what?" Young asked shocked at the display

"The Icarus type planet, it's all a lie" Claire told him and cries of disbelief were immediate but Young asked calmly

"What do you mean?" looking at Rush with suspicion as he held his probably broken nose

"He faked the whole thing" Claire said throwing herself at Rush only for Greer grip to hold her back "He used one of my geographical reports to manufacture the data, reports written for Icarus Base. All of this just so he could get someone to sit in that damn chair" she said and the air in the room suddenly became very tense as the crew looked from Claire to Rush hoping that this was some sort of joke or Claire had got it wrong but Rush said nothing and desolation and disappointment started to appear on their faces as well as anger

"It gave the crew hope" Rush said trying to defend himself but Claire stopped that in its tracks

"False hopes that are now dashed sending us even deeper into despair, you don't even consider what you did wrong do you, that you would have someone sit in that chair which might as well be an electric chair to get us to a planet that doesn't exist" she said and the look of defiance in Rush's eyes told them he felt no remorse or regret over what he'd done.

Colonel Young was furious, the gall of what Rush had just tried to pull letting all the crew get their hopes up only to dash them made him so mad that only his deeply ingrained military discipline stopped him from going over there and continuing what Claire had started

"Dunning, Barnes take Rush to the Infirmary to get Rush's nose looked at and then put him in his quarters till we decide what to do with him" he ordered and the two soldiers picked Rush off the floor and supported him out of the room while Young looked over to Claire who had managed to calm herself down enough for Greer to let go of her but glared after Rush. Young walked over to Claire and said to her

"I think you for bring this to our attention but there are better ways of doing it" he told Claire who took a deep breath before answering

"Maybe but I had to expose him before someone actually sat in the chair, we can't let him get away with this sir" she implored Young who put a hand on her shoulder and reassured her that he would deal with it.

He turned to leave but Claire asked "Colonel have you seen TJ yet?" and Young turned back to face her

"No I haven't, any reason why I should?" he asked

"I think you should see her sir, she has something to tell you" Claire said and walked out herself leaving a slightly confused Colonel Young behind

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX**

A few hours later Wray and Scott returned to Destiny and heard what had happened in their absence. They were both angry about what Rush had done and Wray agreed that leaving the scientist in his quarters was the best thing for now.

Claire, Chloe, Vanessa and TJ were all taking a gentle jog around the ship when an out of breath Wray caught up with them.

"You all right Camille?" TJ asked and the IOA representative said

"I'm fine, just a little out of breath. Though I do need to talk to you Claire" Wray said looking at Claire seriously and Claire said

"Sure, what about?"

"Your father" Wray said and the effect the word 'father' had on Claire was instantaneous, her face became stony serious and she looked around and saw a room off to the side

"Not here" Claire told them and led all of them into the room which was spare crew quarters and shut the door

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX**


	13. Chapter 13 Justice

_I do not own Stargate Universe_

_Warning - Mentions of Torture and Violence and Murder_

"__" Radio Talk_

_Rating M to be safe_

**Chapter 13 – Justice**

Once the door shut, Claire turned to face Camille and asked "Well?" while TJ, Vanessa and Chloe looked on confused

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Camille asked and Claire scoffed

"Oh yeah it's something I really want to talk about, a real conversation item" Claire said sarcastically "To tell everyone that your father was one of the most infamous serial killers of the twentieth century" she blurted out and TJ, Vanessa and Chloe looked on shocked at her words

"What on Earth are you talking about?" TJ asked whenever the subject of families had come up before Claire had just quietly directed the conversation away from herself.

"Exactly what I said, I take it you've never heard about Magnus Williams?" Claire asked and the three of them shook their heads, Camille looked on unsure of what to say

"If you lived in Britain you would have. Magnus Williams kidnapped and tortured over thirty people to death throughout his life; he kept them alive for days after snatching them off the streets; devising new ways to hurt them without killing them, ripping their fingernails and toe nails off and putting low level electric currents through the exposed nerves, blowtorching areas of their skin. I think you get the point" Claire told them as the four other women looked disgusted at the things she was saying and the images they created

"Me and my mother found out eventually, he'd always kept it hidden from us but then I found some of his 'trophies'" she told them and explained "Serial Killers sometimes collect things from their victims like ears or teeth" and the four women looked sick at the thought

"In Magnus's case it was fingers" she said "One from every kill. When I found them and showed them to mum, she was horrified" Claire told them thinking back to the day she had tried to so hard to put behind her

_Flashback…1992 Earth United Kingdom_

_The small house was quiet as a six year old Claire sat on the front room floor drawing with her crayons. A beautiful red haired woman entered, Claire would look a lot like her when she grew up but not for many years. _

"_What are you drawing sweet heart?" the woman asked her and Claire turned to face her _

"_A train mummy" Claire told her and showed her a picture of a train. It was one of those pictures that were already drawn but children could colour in how they liked. In Claire's case the train was completely red even the smoke from its funnel. _

"_That's nice sweetie" her mother told her and pulled her into a hug that Claire eagerly returned "Now could you get the book from mommy and daddy's bed for me sweet heart?" her mother asked and Claire nodded her head _

"_Good Girl" her mother said and let Claire down so she could go and get the book. Claire skipped to her mummy and daddy's room and found the book and was about to take it back to her mother when she saw that her daddy's special box in their closet was unlocked. Her daddy had always told her not to look in his special box but she just couldn't help herself. She moved forward into the big closet and carefully lifted the lid off her father's box. _

_When she peered inside she didn't understand what she found. There were fingers, big fingers like mummy and daddy's fingers; maybe they were joke fingers like for April fool's Day but they looked real._

_Claire was confused, she decided to ask her mummy and so she picked up the book her mother had sent her for and went downstairs to the Kitchen where her mother was making dinner_

"_Thank you my darling, would you look like to help me make dinner?" her mother said smiling as she saw Claire enter _

"_Mummy, I looked in daddy's special box" Claire said and her mother's smile faded as she looked at her daughter disappointed _

"_Sweetie you know you not supposed to go through mummy and daddy's things" she said as she told off her daughter_

"_But there were fingers inside mummy, like your fingers" Claire said and her mother looked surprised at these words _

"_What do mean fingers sweet heart?" she asked _

"_Real fingers, grown up fingers like yours mummy" Claire told her again and her mother now looked really worried_

"_Could you show me sweet heart?" her mother asked and Claire nodded leading her mother back to the special box were her mummy put her hand over her mouth and gasped when she saw what was inside. She quickly looked over to the clock and saw that Magnus was going to home any minute._

"_Now sweetie there's something I need for you to do for me" she said quickly and picked Claire up and carried her down stairs "While I call the police I need you to hide in the closet okay sweet heart and do not come out or make any noise till I come to get you okay sweetheart?" she asked her daughter who looked quite scared _

"_Why mummy?" Claire asked but her mother said more harshly than she'd intended _

"_Not now Claire, I need you to be a big girl and do as I say right now sweet heart" her mother said as she opened the closet and put Claire down wrapping her up in coats to hide her and gave her a kiss on the forehead and a tight hug before closing the day leaving Claire in the dark save for a few beams of light coming from the holes in the door that Claire could just see through._

_She watched as her mother called the police who told her that they'd be there as soon as possible and to try and act as if everything was normal till they got there and she heard her say where she'd hidden Claire. She saw her mother hang up the phone and go back into the Kitchen. Claire wanted to go to her but stayed where she was._

_Then a few minutes later the front door opened as daddy came home, he called out to her and mummy who shouted that she was in the kitchen. Her daddy went up to his room and then there was a yell as he got there_

"_WHO HAS BEEN GOING THROUGH MY THINGS?" he shouted as he came running down the stairs and her mother came quickly to meet him_

"_I don't know what you're talking about Magnus" her mother said trying to pacify him till the police arrived but he had worked himself into such a rage already. From her hiding place Claire was getting really scared, she never seen daddy this angry before._

"_Don't give me that you tart!" He screamed at her and grabbed her by the throat and squeezed, Claire wanted to run out there and tell daddy that it was her who looked in his special box so he'd stop hurting mummy but she was frozen in place by fear. Her mummy started making noises she never heard before and then she heard sirens coming from outside. Then her daddy started shaking mummy who stopped moving and fell to the ground and didn't get up. Claire wanted to cry out but was too scared. _

_The police barged down the door and after a brief struggle put daddy in handcuffs and dragged him away. Then the door of the closet opened and a policewoman looked in and saw the small figure of Claire huddled in the corner_

_Flashback ends…_

"The policewoman picked me up and carried me out. I didn't say a single word for days, they got my dad for over thirty murders including my mother's" Claire told them as her audience looked on shocked and horrified.

"I actually testified at his trial, they sent him down for life and I was sent to my grandmother on the Welsh coast, it took years of counselling to get through it" she told them not able to meet their gaze as her head fell "But everyone knew who I was and about my father and what he'd done. Everywhere I went people whispered about me behind my back; parents would keep their children from playing with me and tried to ignore me. My grandmother was a drunk and spiteful woman who just loved to dig the knife in and twist it, reminding me about it all the time. I was so lonely" she confessed to them, tears starting to fall from her eyes. TJ stepped forward and put an arm around Claire and sat her on the bed

"But my counsellors and my teachers said that I had potential when they looked at my school work. So they encouraged me to excel, I guess it gave me some confidence in myself again and to express myself through my work" she told them "I got to university two years early and I got all my qualifications despite everything" she said with some pride in her voice

"But then at my graduation, Magnus showed up" she told them surprising them "He'd broken out of prison and had decided to 'discipline' me for speaking against him. He held my entire class hostage, killed five of them while the police tried to get in. They did eventually and they took him down" she finished her story and expected rejection but TJ only tightened her hold on her and then Vanessa sat on the other side of her and gave her a hug

"Claire it's not your fault" Vanessa told her firmly and Claire spoke up

"But it is, if I hadn't looked in that box then my mother would still be alive. She died because I was too nosey"

"Rubbish" Chloe told her "If you hadn't then he would have kept on killing, it might have taken years for them to catch him or never. You never killed anyone, he did"

Claire couldn't speak and as if sensing her need for comfort, Vanessa and TJ wrapped her in a joint hug, Chloe came forward and put a comforting hand on her should and Camille's expression softened.

"I'm sorry for bringing this up" Camille told her and they all turned to face her "I just didn't know what to make of it, I mean General O'Neill had your file sealed" and Claire gave a small smile

"Probably Sam's doing, to make sure no-one would know about my past unless I told them" Claire said and they all fell into silence

Camille was the one to break it after a few minutes "We'll keep it between us, that way if you want to tell people it'll be your decision" and Claire nodded and said a grateful

"Thank you"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX**

The group broke up and went to do their jobs while Claire went back to her quarters and tried to rest up, the talk had taken a lot out of her and she was tired. But she just couldn't sleep, so she went to her laptop and started work.

With a renewed vigour she went straight to the X-306 design and started working out the flaws and then putting on the finishing touches. She sat back and looked at the completed virtual model she'd created; it had a more sleek profile than the X-304 with smoother aerodynamic lines and a narrower profile in accordance with its role as a destroyer carrying only half the crew of an X-304. The different profile of its hull would allow it great speeds within atmospheres and the improved engines at sublight if needed while maintaining a large enough weapons capability to harm larger vessels.

She then decided to look at her subspace capacitor research, back on Earth when trying to design and build one they'd run into a major issue. They needed to create a transducer that was capable of not only handling the extreme levels of power required but also converting that energy into a form of energy they could use. They knew it was possible with Earth's current level of technology because the Alternate Daedalus had been no more advanced than their own but they didn't know how the alternate SGC had done it.

She reread the research and picked up her PDA and her notebook and decided to go to the Control room so she could try and find out about Destiny's solar collectors. For the ship to convert solar matter into useful energy they would have to have a form of transducer to do the conversion so a study of them might provide the answer.

When she'd got to the Control Room, Volker and Franklin were on duty. They nodded to her as she entered and she nodded back before going to work. She took a moment to study their faces and saw depression on both their faces, probably left over from Rush's little stunt. She sincerely hoped that this would past and that maybe the crew could learn to be hopeful again.

With some difficulty, Claire managed to access the database and found the technical readouts of the solar collectors. She located the components she was interested in and started to make notes and wrote down some of the necessary mathematics.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Everett Young stood at the door to TJ's quarters and knocked gently, he didn't know why she wanted to see him, they hadn't resumed their relationship while on board _Destiny_ and he knew he was being unfair to keep her dangling. He knew in his heart that his relationship with Emily was doomed; they struggled to keep it together when he was on Earth never mind now he was billions of light-years away with no physical way back except in the body of another man for a brief time. And he loved TJ it was as simple as that, her smile, her understanding nature, everything about her. If he had met TJ first he would have married her, no doubts about it. He knew he was being unfair to both the women in his life, keeping them from finding someone else, but he just didn't know what to do.

The door opened and TJ clad in some of the Ancient Clothes they'd found, the white t-shirt and pants clung to her body and her blond hair was loose in gentle waves to her lower back, he was momentarily struck dumb by her beauty but quickly recovered.

"You wanted to see me TJ" he said in a gentler tone than he'd use for anyone else. And she nodded, leading him in to her quarters and closing the door.

"Yes sir" she said and looked very uncomfortable, he gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and asked

"What's bothering you Tamara?"

TJ almost shuddered when his fingers brushed against the skin of her cheek and ear but still couldn't find the words to tell him of her secret. She took hold of his hand and held it as she tried to say what she knew she had too.

"Sir" she said but he corrected her

"In private, it's Everett. Tamara" he said to her and his fingers rubbed against hers.

"Everett" she said and said before she lost her nerve

"I'm pregnant"

The effect on Everett was immediate, he stopped stroking her fingers and he became still

"You're pregnant" he repeated as if unable to believe it "Our baby?" he asked and she nodded

There was silence for a minute or two before Everett pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently

"Don't worry, I not going to let you go through this alone" he told her after breaking the kiss, Tamara looked him in the eye with slight tears

"It's just" she stammered "You're married and we're trapped on this ship. How are we supposed to do this? Raise a baby in all this?" Tamara asked him

"Tamara I won't deny that I'm terrified the same as you, l but I know that we can do this" he told her gently and she felt safer in his arms and felt for the first time because of the conviction in his voice felt that maybe they could do this.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX**

Claire was on her way back to her quarters when she saw Greer looking through the door to Spencer's room.

"Hey Greer, what's going on?" she asked him with a slight smile, walking towards him

"Look" Greer said without emotion and a bit puzzled Claire peered through the open door and gasped when she saw what was there; Spencer's corpse with a gun in hand, a bullet hole in the head and a splatter of blood on the far wall.

"Oh god" she exclaimed and lent back against the wall opposite the door "Why would he do this?" she asked Greer.

"Who know but he's been off lately" Greer told her and went to call the Colonel and Claire just stared at the scene in front of her. Colonel Young, TJ and Camille soon arrived and while a grim look crossed Young's face Camille and TJ's faces nearly blanched. Military discipline took over TJ's responses and she went to check the body

"When aside from the obvious there are no signs of injury or a struggle, just the bullet wound in his head" she reported and concluded that he hadn't been forced. Despite Spencer's problems with other people he was a United States Marine in as far as they knew near prime condition, only a handful of people on this ship could over power him. Camille noticed an empty medicine container on his desk and picked it up. She read the prescription before handing it to TJ who took one look and said "Sleeping pills, carries a warning that their highly addictive"

"So he runs out of a drug he needs to sleep and can't face not having them, combined with the depression brought on by Rush's lie about the Icarus planet" Young said putting it together

"And kills himself" Camille concluded, then Claire noticed the Kino hovering above the desk

"Maybe he left a message" she said nodded towards the Kino to draw their attention to it

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX**

They took the Kino to Eli who quickly accessed it and they watched Spencer's final farewell before he put his gun to his head and took his own life.

"Well" Eli said trying to look on the positive "At least we don't have a murderer running around"

"No one else but Spencer may have pulled the trigger Eli but he wasn't driven to this entirely on his own" Young reminded them "One thing for sure is that Rush's lie put the crew's moral lower than ever and this is just one result. We can only be grateful that more of the crew didn't follow his example" he said before turning to Camille "We need to talk about what to do with him"

"Okay maybe we should also talk about some other issues as well" Camille suggested and before Young could rebuff her a look from Claire made him hesitate

"Fine"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They moved Spencer's corpse to a disused area of the ship while they thought about what to do with the body. Camille and Young had finally had a sit down where under the guidance of Claire, Young had agreed to relax restrictions a bit and that a court would be held to put Rush on trial for his actions.

An improvised court was quickly set up with a jury made up of equal numbers of civilians and military personnel. Rush had decided that he would defend himself and had declined to have a member of crew do it. Camille would prosecute and if the jury found him guilty would decide his punishment.

They decided to hold it in the Mess Hall were the tables were moved over to the side and a chair placed in the middle were Rush now sat, his nose still in a bandage from Claire's punch the day or so before but he sat boldly and defiantly as the crew looked on from the side. The hostility in the air was thick, many of crew were not so angry about Spencer's suicide in fact some were glad to see the back of him but their hopes and dreams had been dashed by Rush's lies and they were keen for him to be punished.

Camille started the proceeding with an opening statement

"We are gathered here to investigate the conduct of Doctor Nicolas Rush" she turned to Rush looked stared back unflinchingly "Your conduct in regards to safety and survival of this crew has been called into question, do you have anything to say before we begin?" Camille asked

Rush said in his arrogant way "None of you have what it takes to do what is needed to be done, I do not need to explain my actions to you" the murmuring of anger whispers in the background answered his declaration and Camille's eyes narrowed

"Very well if that is your position we will get started, we'll begin with your actions on Icarus Base during the Lucian Alliance attack" Camille said and a great many of the crowd stiffened as the memories of that fateful day came back to them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire unless she was called to testify had decided to avoid the court, she wasn't sure she could stay objective if she was there. So she had decided to work in the Interface Room to distract herself, she was looking at the readings that the computer gave for _Destiny's_ solar collectors and she was making notes to try and apply some of what she was learning to the Subspace Capacitor project.

She noticed a planet coming into range, she looked at the data being relayed to her and she reached for radio

"_Colonel Young come in"_ she said switching it on

"_This is Young go ahead"_ the Colonel's voice sounded. He himself had decline to go to the court for much the same reason as Claire

"_We've got a planet coming just into range in an hour or so. Do want me to put together a team to go planet side?"_ she asked and he paused for a moment to think

"_Okay but keep it small at the moment its best everyone stays on the ship"_ he said

"_Understood"_ she said before clicking the radio off and went looking for people to go to the planet.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After getting a team together of Doctor Volker, Doctor Caine, Vanessa and Airman Rennie, Claire and Young waited in the gate room while the ship dialled the planet. The familiar plasma eruption in the centre of the Stargate with its whoosh sound settled down to reveal the puddle that simmered like water. They looked up at the clock and saw that the ship had ten hours before jumping back into FTL.

Claire sent the Kino through and reported on its findings

"Atmosphere's breathable, a bit hot but not scorching. Just a red and rocky desert not much vegetation or water" she said looking at the readings

"Okay" Colonel Young said to the four members of the team "I'm not expecting trouble and we've got a few hours but if there are any problems come straight back understood?" he asked the team who nodded before disembarking.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX**

"So your defence is that you believed it would be too dangerous to dial Earth but rather than dial any number of planets in our own galaxy that were listed in the dialling computer you decided that it was better to dial an unknown address which of course brought us here" Camille summed up back in the makeshift court room.

"It was the only chance we'd ever get" Rush said "It might have taken years or never to find another way"

"So rather than prioritise the safety of everyone on Icarus you decided to put your research first" Camille countered

"The greater good means more than a small number of lives, this ship could be the greatest discovery that mankind has made since the Stargate itself" he defended and a lot of glares were directed his way

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX**

A few hours had past and nothing new was happening outside of the court room. Claire was going to gate room to check on the planet side team when she saw someone inside the Repository Chair room. Claire quickly moved into the room to find that Franklin was inside working on the console

"What are doing in here? This room is out of bounds" Claire said wondering where the guards where

"I just wanted to check something" he said nervously as he continued working without looking at her. Getting suspicious she went over to see what he was doing and saw that he was powering up the chair

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said angrily but Franklin turned around and without any warning punched her straight in the head, sending her head back into the wall behind and after the second collision Claire fell to the floor out cold.

Franklin kneeled over her and checked her pulse and let out a sigh of relief that she was alive but then he quickly sat down in the chair and his breathing quickened as the restraints clicked into place before his world dissolved into a great white light.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X**

Eli was going back to his room when he heard a weird sound he didn't recognise, he moved to investigate what it was when he saw a sight that sent him into a panic. Franklin was sitting in the chair foaming at the mouth and shaking violently; he grabbed his radio and called out desperately

"This is Eli in the Chair room I need help"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Everyone rushed over to the Chair room and released Franklin from the chair and both Claire and Franklin were moved to the Infirmary where TJ looked them over.

"He's completely catatonic" TJ told Camille who had halted the trial for the moment, Colonel Young, Eli and Lieutenant Scott as she shone a light into Franklin's eyes "Whatever the chair did to him there is no response to normal stimuli"

"And Claire?" Young asked as he looked over at the unconscious young woman on the bed next to Franklin

"Aside from a heavy concussion and a cracked skull she's fine, give her a few hours she'll come round" TJ told them and then Riley's voice sounded on the radio

"_Colonel Young sir com in"_ Young picked up his radio and answered

"_Go ahead Riley" _

"_Sir the team on the surface have found something"_ Riley told him

"_Define something"_ Young said

"_It's some kind of crashed alien ship"_ Riley told them and the entire room fell silent

"_Riley confirm, did you just say an alien ship?"_ Colonel Young asked

"_Yes sir, old but definitely an alien ship"_ Riley told him

"_Understood Young out"_ Colonel Young said clicking off his radio before turning to the others

"Well I guess that we're not alone out here after all" Eli said eager to see the ship for himself but Camille, Young and Scott frowned worried that this species might be threat

"We need to look at that ship" Camille said and Young said

"I agreed but Claire's out of action" and Camille bit her lip

"We'll have to use Rush, aside from Claire he's the only one we've got with the skills" she said reluctantly. Young hated the idea of using the other man but as Camille had just said that the only other person on _Destiny_ who might have a chance of understanding the alien ship with Claire out of action was Rush. So with a little trepidation he turned to Scott

"Take him down to the planet but keep him under close observation" he ordered his second in command

"Yes sir" Scott said before heading off

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX**

Let out of his quarters and dressed in desert gear, Rush and Scott exited the Stargate before quickly making their way over to the crashed ship, they had less than an hour before _Destiny_ went back into FTL and had to make the most of it. They quickly arrived at the site and saw the small vessel on the hill above them. Rush was excited and made his way quickly up the hill and started examining the ruined vessel.

Time moved quickly and soon there was mere minutes before they were left behind so the team packed up to leave and made their way back to the Stargate leaving Scott with Rush but Rush was still taking his time. Scott got annoyed so he shouted

"Rush it's time to go" and Rush looked annoyed but started down the hill but on his way a bunch of rocks came free from the hill and fell straight onto Rush knocking him out and nearly burying him. Scott quickly went to free Rush but some of the rocks were heavy and as many as he moved he couldn't free the scientist.

"_Scott come in your window is closing"_ Young's voice sounded on the radio and Scott answered

"_Sir there's been a rock slide Rush is out and unmovable I can't free him before the ship leaves"_ Scott told him and waited for the Colonel's orders

"_Leave him get yourself back here"_ Young ordered, Scott was shocked

"_Sir?"_ he asked

"_If you can't free him then it's better to lose only one person as opposed to two so get your ass back here"_ Young said firmly and with a small hesitation. Scott dropped his supply filled backpack to give Rush a chance and ran back to the gate, just in time to leap through it before it closed and the ship returned to FTL.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX**

A few hours later as it became night on the planet, Rush came too and looked up at the sky as he struggled free on the rock, his night still confused as to what had happened. But then just as he got free it hit him. He'd been left behind! The ship was gone and he was all alone on this desolate rock.

He looked up in horror at the stars above when he felt a trembling in the ground. He looked around him but could see no reason for the trembling and then a dark shape high above him began to emerge from over the horizon coming straight towards him.


	14. Chapter 14 Space Part 1

_I do not own the Stargate franchise_

**Chapter 14 - Space Part 1**

Claire had been confined to bed after her injury at the hands of Franklin, the injury was healing well but much to her chagrin TJ had forbidden her from working or doing any major exercise for at least a week or so. So she was bored out of her mind. She had been allowed to do some target practice with her newly modified energy pistol which she carried with her all the time now but that was about it.

Vanessa had dropped in to talk to her as often as she could and Eli came to visit her a few times but when they left Claire quickly became bored again so she asked Young if she could accompany him to Earth via the stones.

"Sorry Claire but TJ made it very clear that you were to rest here on _Destiny_ till she gives you the okay" he said and she almost groaned in annoyance, she felt fine and nodded before heading off to her quarters hoping to try and sneak some work in. She was nearly there when she heard some noise to her right and looked over to see Colonel Young being restrained by Scott and Greer and rushed over to help the two men while Caine took the stone off the pad and immediately Young stopped struggling and looked around to see what was happening

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX

"You might have imagined it" Camille said as the senior staff of _Destiny_ met in Young's quarters to discuss what had just happened. Apparently Young instead of going back to Earth had ended up in some kind of alien facility or ship and one of them had possessed his body.

"My imagination is not that good" Young said "So the question is what the hell is going on? How are these aliens interfering with the stones and how to resume contact with Earth?" and he looked at them expecting an answer

"Maybe they have a communication system that works along the same principle as the stones and the signals are getting mixed up by accident or…" Claire suggested as the ranking scientist, wishing they knew more about how the stones worked. Scott who was to her right didn't like the way she had hesitated and neither did the others

"Or what?" Scott asked and Claire grimaced before saying

"That they intentionally hijacked the system to disrupt our communication with Earth and put a member of their own people on _Destiny_" Claire said grimly hating to have to consider the possibility, the last thing the crew needed was an enemy. They were only just learning how to manage the ship and still could not control it.

"If they attack could we protect ourselves?" Wray asked who had recently started to exercise with Claire, Vanessa, TJ and Chloe.

"Depending on what level of technology they have possibly" Claire said before explaining "We can only bring roughly half of the ship's weapons online at the moment as well as the main battery and the shields should protect us for a while but given the condition of the ship I would advise against a battle if possible" Claire told Young giving her opinion.

Young looked at her and nodded before saying "Right Claire from now on you're in charge of the science team see if there's anything you can do to" and she nodded before leaving to go and attend to her new duties.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX**

Claire arrived in the control interface room to see most of the team already present and in deep conversation, so deep that they hadn't noticed her yet and Claire was about to announce herself only to stop when she heard what they were saying

"It's got to be Young, Rush was a threat to him and he had Scott leave him behind" Brody was telling the assembled civilians. Claire gritted her teeth as she heard the engineer trying to stir up trouble with his suspicions

"Come on, the Colonel might be strict but exiling Rush to a lifeless planet for the sake of a grudge" Lisa Park said not wanting to believe that their leader would commit such actions

"Yeah right like he wouldn't do something 'for the good of the crew'" Brody said sarcastically and Claire saw the looks of doubt and uncertainty on the faces of the others scientists at Brody's words and Claire decided to stop this in its tracks. She stepped into the room and cleared her throat. They all turned to face her surprised and uncomfortable giving what they had just been talking about.

"Claire how are feeling?" Volker asked her and she gave him a tight lipped smile before saying

"Fine now what have you guys been talking about?" she asked testing them. The reaction was instant they looked down so to avoid her gaze except for Brody who looked her straight in the eyes and said nothing

"Well then let's put the record straight shall we" Claire said with a cold edge to her voice that sent a chill down their spines "There's no conspiracy, there's no plot, the simple truth is that Rush got caught in a rockslide and Scott couldn't get him out in time so the Colonel ordered Scott back so he didn't lose both of them clear?"

The rest of them looked ready to accept Claire's version of events but Brody seemed determined to play conspiracy theorist and he spoke out

"All we have is Scott's word" and Claire cut him off angrily making the other people in the room jump

"Scott doesn't have it in him to pull off something like your suggesting, leaving a man to die with no way on purpose. Why are you going on about this Adam?" she asked shortly "Just before it happened we had put Rush on trial for all the things he's done and still you hang on his word" she finished and the group looked at him expectantly but he seemed unable to answer. He believed in Rush, he couldn't explain why it was just a feeling, a subconscious impulse to do so. He couldn't explain it.

"Good because I will not tolerate that kind of mob attitude on my team" Claire told them and they looked at her shocked "Yes its official I'm the head of the science team now"

"That can't be right, you're too young" Brody said startled but the look in her eye clued him in that she was telling the truth

"Well tough because you work for me now, if you think I'm going to tolerate any shit then think again. If you have a problem you can also leave" Claire told him firmly meaning every word. Some of the people in the room were good scientists and engineers, she didn't want to lose them but she wasn't going to tolerate any insubordination and trouble making when she was in charge. She looked at the assembled group like she was daring anyone to try and challenge her but they backed down and Claire gave them a smile saying

"Good, now then let's get to work" she said and assigned them their tasks.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X**

A few hours later the ship dropped out of FTL and came into range of a planet. They dialled it up and sent a Kino through and found the planet had a habitable atmosphere with purple vegetation.

"Purple Plants. Are you kidding me?" Scott asked in the gate room when they looked at the image the Kino had sent back. Claire, Brody, Young and Scott had gathered around the console.

"Well purple chlorophyll is sensitive to red and infrared light. The planet's probably orbiting a red dwarf" Brody explained and Young took note of the readings

"Well the Kino says there are breathable atmosphere, water and oxygen" Young said questioning Brody on how it was possible.

"Well I'm concerned about potential solar flare activity. Spot radiation" Brody told them and Young took his concerns to heart

"Right then let's suit up" he said planning to send an expedition to the planet they'd have to be in environmental suits so he and Scott left to get ready and Claire went to help when Vanessa came running down the corridor out of breath before saying desperately

"Sirs! You've got to see this" and they all ran to the observation deck and their breath nearly stopped in their lungs as they looked out of the large viewing port "It just showed up" Vanessa told them as they saw two alien ships hovering close to _Destiny_.

Claire, Scott and Young all left the deck and headed to the Control Room where Eli was on duty

"Bringing it up" he said when they arrived and Claire went to work at the other console and the holographic screen appeared showing the alien ships. They all stared at the image while Claire tried to recall her first contact protocols that Daniel had taught her hoping that this would go well.

"What's it doing?" Eli asked and Scott reported

"Nothing yet. It's just sitting there" and Claire asked

"Should I open communication channels?" and Eli said

"There's no way they'd understand us" but Young turned to Claire and said "Do it"

Claire went to work on the console while Eli, Young and Scott looked intently at the image of the ships and Scott remarked

"Two alien encounters in one day, what are the odds" and Claire decided to tell him as her suspicions mounted

"Out here millions to one" and Young took note of the tone in her voice and nodded as he was thinking the same thing "Sending greeting now" Claire told them as she worked the console and sent the message hoping that they would understand it and not be a hostile species. It would sure be nice to meet a species that didn't want to kill or enslave them for a change.

"There's no way this is a coincidence I bet you I was on that ship this morning" Young said

"You figure you piqued their curiosity, they came here to check on us?" Scott asked but Young had his own theory, one that Claire shared

"I think they've been checking up on us for a while. There's no other way they could have found us so fast" Young told them and then the console reported they had received a response Claire called it up on the display just as Wray came running in and asked

"What's going on?" and Eli told her "They answered back" but when they looked over at Claire they saw the look of fear on her face

"What did they say?" Wray asked her and with considerable anxiety Claire told them

"Just one word…Surrender" and the expressions of those in the room became even tenser as the word sunk in "And they answered in English"

"How the hell is that possible?" Scott asked and Claire said

"I don't know"

"What do we do?" Wray asked and Young told Eli and Claire

"Get the weapons online" and turned to Wray before saying "Can you get the crew to the designated areas?" and Wray nodded before heading off to do just that while Eli and Claire went to work on their consoles rising the ship's defences and the colonel ordered Scott and Greer to go to the shuttle before Scott rushed off. Brody rushed in to help in the control and took up the post next to Claire while the crew rushed to get ready. Then Eli noticed something

"I think their launching smaller ships" Eli said and they saw on the screen as eight little fighter like craft left the mother ship and then they were told that only 30% of the weapons could be brought online at once because after what had happened to Riley they were still trying to find out what weapon batteries worked and which ones didn't so Rush had put limiters on in case of an overload. So the three scientists in the room went to work trying to override them so more weapons could be brought on line.

All over the ship the crew prepared as quickly as they could for battle, the civilians moved to the designated safe areas while military personnel manned their posts and Scott and Greer launched the shuttle.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

In the control room, Young pressed them to get the ship ready faster

"Hey, hey first real space battle over here" Eli said annoyed as he, Claire and Brody worked their hardest to get the ship ready and then on the monitor they saw the shuttle engage the enemy fighters. The shuttle destroyed a few of the fighters but most of them got through and on Destiny Claire and Eli powered up the turrets dotted all over the ship's hull Claire managed to bypass the lockout on the main battery and they opened fire. The first wave of fighters were shredded but through the gaps in fire from the turrets they managed to get online and started to fire their own weapons at _Destiny_ which bounced off the shield. The ship rocked from the impacts and Eli, Brody and Claire clung to their consoles to stay upright as they worked. Sparks flew from panels as power surges ran through them from the strain being put on the shields. Brody desperately tried to boost power to the shields as they began to fail as the alien weapons drained them with every shot while Claire and Eli tried to fend them off but their own shield energy was being drained by their own weapons as well as the enemy.

In a corridor near the observation deck a panel blew and its exposed conduit electrified the whole corridor. Eli reported that it was the same all over the ship and that the weapon system was ready for this. Young didn't help matters by reminding them again that the whole crew was depending on them and Claire snapped at him

"It's important we know, the additional pressure we do not need" and Young just looked on without replying as the three civilian scientists went on with their work, hampered by the system lockout placed there by both Rush and the Ancients.

Then the situation went from bad to worse as a key conduit to the shields started to give out. Claire told Brody "Take over I need to fix that conduit" and she left the room, l running down the corridor which had gone dark and was about to reach it when she ran into Chloe and Dunning. But before they could talk a red circle appeared on the ceiling and a perfect circle of bulkhead fell revealing a brilliant white light, but as Chloe and Claire crept nearer to it they heard a clinking sound like you would from an insect before something circular was dropped down from the ceiling and all the heard was a screeching sound before they fell unconscious.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX**

As it climbed down from the hole it had made, the alien known as the Nakai saw the two unconscious creatures on the floor. It pondered for a moment as it considered its options; its orders where to retrieve a specimen of the other gender that this species had to complete the knowledge they had gained from the other one they had. It decided to take them both so they could gain as much data as possible. So it picked up the unconscious females and carried them back onto its small craft before heading back to their mother ship.


	15. Chapter 15 Space Part 2

_I do not own the Stargate Franchise_

**Chapter 15 – Space Part 2**

The next thing both Claire and Chloe knew was the feeling of floating, like you would in a swimming pool and you were treading water, as they opened their eyes they also became aware of the mask that had been fixed onto their faces and that they were in some kind of liquid filled tank. Bubbles rushed past their faces as they looked around. They pushed against the glass like wall of the tank, thumping their hands against it as hard as they could but it wouldn't break. The liquid was very cold and wires were placed around their entire bodies. They could see each other as they had been placed in adjacent tanks and their eyes both conveyed each other's panic at what was happening. Then they saw a blue alien creature walking towards Chloe's tank, they stopped struggling to watch as it came up to the wall of the tank and emitted a form of screeching which Claire guessed was their form of language. Chloe backed up against the wall behind her and the girls resumed their pounding on the walls of their transparent cage, desperate to get out.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX**

It had been almost fifteen minutes since they had awoken but both girls had stopped their attempts to escape by pounding on the glass. They had both realised that it was going to break and Claire hadn't found anything she could use to escape in her tank. She could see her energy pistol and PDA on the table across the room from the tanks and she almost kicked the tank in frustration If she could just get to her weapon then she might have a chance of getting out of here. Instead all she could do was wait and pray for a miracle

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Colonel Young had been an SG team member for many years and a leader for quite a large amount of that time. He had since action in the Gou'ald-Earth War, the battles against the Lucian Alliance and the long campaign against the Ori.

But this experience was one that he wasn't going to forget in a hurry, he walked about the alien ship in a body that was not his on hoping that this was the same vessel that Chloe and Claire were on so he could rescue them and get them back to _Destiny_. The aliens that passed him in the corridors were probably the strangest creatures he had ever seen which was saying something given the years he'd served in the Stargate program and how many weird things he'd seen. They resembled humanoids but had thin even transparent bodies which were a deep blue and their large oval heads seemed to have a kind of glow that shone out of the place where the eye socket was supposed to be. Everett Young steeled himself against any ill-feelings. Claire and Chloe were depending on him to find them and get them off this ship and back to Destiny before the ship returned to FTL and left them behind.

As he turned a corner in his search he came across a tank in the wall. It was steamed up but a large dark shape was inside it so he walked up to it and wiped away the moisture to see a face he had honestly never expected to see again.

Doctor Nicolas Rush was unconscious inside the tank. Colonel Young quickly found the door control and closed it so no one could see him while he went up to the console and tried to figure out the release switch but the confusing set of instruments were beyond his understanding so he decided to try a more direct approach. He went over to the wall and tried to pull one of the pipes off the wall, on his first attempt he couldn't even move it. So he went around and found another one that he could rip from the wall and with as strong a swing at his body could muster he started to bash the front of the tank holding Rush, which cracked and the man's eyes opened.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX**

Claire and Chloe suddenly felt searing pain as the aliens tried to probe their minds, desperate so that they wouldn't learn anything about _Destiny_ from her Claire filled her mind with as many random thoughts as she could hoping to confuse the mind probe; shopping trips with Vala, staff training sessions with Teal'c, school trips as a child anything but _Destiny_.

The alien snarled in what she guessed was frustration before removing its implant and replacing it on the console, it conversed with the one probing Chloe before it replaced its own implant and they both walked out of the room leaving the two women still trapped in the tanks now with migraines as well as a sense of claustrophobia.

Then the door in front of them opened revealing the last person she would have guessed, Rush in some kind of suit like the aliens wore, he looked at them and they looked back, their eyes pleading with him. And for a split second it looked like he was going to leave them there

But he didn't he used the pipe to bash the front of Claire's tank which after the fifth hit shattered releasing her onto the hard floor slivering from the cold on the ship and from being wet. Rush then bashed Zoe's tank open the same way and helped them remove the masks that were clamped to their faces. They looked up at him and he said quickly

"It's me we have to go" and Claire and Chloe stumbled to their feet and released they were in the same kind of suit as Rush. Claire grabbed her PDA and her pistol from the table and checked it, good she thought they hadn't deactivated it so she switched it to kill and with Rush and Chloe barefoot left the room desperate to find a way to escape this chamber of horrors, Claire did however pick up the mind probe implants on her way out.

The ship shook violently and they made their way down the corridor, _Destiny_ she had to guess was using its main battery to great effect if the shaking was any indication. As they moved down another corridor an alien appeared in front of them and without hesitation Claire fired her weapon. The former yellow bolts had been changed into a light blue shade signifying the purified plasma that the weapon fired giving it a greater punch. The creature went down in two shots and they kept on going. Then Rush suddenly saw something

"This way" he said and without having any other ideas about where to go the two girls followed him and he led them to a hanger where they saw some smaller ships like the ones which had attacked _Destiny_ earlier. They scrambled aboard one and Rush in the pilot seat managed to get the ship to launch into space and back to _Destiny_. Just as they reached the Ancient vessel the alien mother ship jumped away in what must be its own form of FTL.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X**

The ship didn't have any available landing pads so they managed to figure out how to clamp the ship onto _Destiny's_ hull and drill a hole like the other alien had done earlier. Chloe jumped down first once the hole was made landing gracefully on the slab of metal they had cut from the ceiling and rushed off exclaiming "Matt" when she saw her boyfriend there. Rush jumped down next, stumbling as he hit the floor and Claire after him where they were greeted by both Matt and Greer. She and Rush looked up to see Greer pointing his gun at them and Chloe in Matt's arms.

"We thought you were dead" Greer said to Rush and Claire said

"Well thank god he wasn't or we wouldn't have gotten off that ship alive" and Rush looked over at her, surprised by the omission and Claire told him "Thank you" for the moment forgetting their issues and he nodded

"Don't mention it" and the two of them sat back against the wall as they relaxed at being back safely on _Destiny_. Greer picked his radio off his belt and switched it on

"Colonel Young this is Greer come in"

"Go ahead" the tired voice of Colonel Young answered

"Sir you are not going to believe this" Greer told him

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX**

A while later in the Mess Hall, Rush told them what had happened

"When I came to I was stuck beneath the rocks and one of their ships descended. They dung me out and stuck me in that tank after they healed my injuries. They kept me unconscious most of the time and when I was conscious they were probing my mind and I don't know how much they got before we managed to escape" he told the assembled group looking at Claire and Chloe who had managed to have a shower and change into some of their own clothes. The mind probe devices were in her quarters where she would study them to see what she could find out.

"It's something I'd rather not think about really" he told them and Chloe and Claire nodded in understanding, remembering the pain of the probes and being trapped in the tanks. They only reason Claire had taken one of those horrid devices were so she could find a weakness or something.

"But I did learn a few things from them like ship layout, operating systems and so on" Rush continued and Chloe added

"That's how he managed to plan our escape" and they all absorbed the information. Eli asked

"Did you learn why they want to destroy us?" and Rush shook his head

"I don't think they wanted to destroy us. They want _Destiny_" he told them "They probably only care about us because we recently came on board. No what they want is a way past her defences, try and find out what kind of secrets she might hold"

Claire then said "So they won't give up, this was only the first round" and the group around them sobered and Rush nodded

"Almost certainly" Rush agreed with her

Young and Wray entered the room looking for them. Colonel Young spoke first

"There you are" and Claire said

"Sir we have reason to believe that the aliens want _Destiny_" before pausing "Which means they'll be back, who knows what they managed to get from me, Rush and Chloe before we escaped" and the concern Young and Wray's faces

"We can't afford to be divided anymore" Claire said knowing that now was the time where she might reach most of them "Now we have an enemy which nearly managed to overwhelm us today, and it's almost certain that they'll be back maybe with more ships next time, we have to stand together or we're dead" and she looked intently at Young and Wray "Make whatever concessions you have too the time for petty differences is over" before she got up to try and get some rest before she started work in a few hours leaving a very uncomfortable group behind.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX**


	16. Chapter 16 Solace

_I do not own Stargate Universe _

**Chapter 16 – Solace**

_Claire was working on a console in the control room on her own, the ship was quiet and Claire was hoping to get some work done. _

_Then out of the corner of her eye Clare saw something move out in the corridor_

"_Hello?" Claire called out but there was no answer, she walked down the corridor and peered around the corner but no one was in sight. Then she heard a noise behind and quickly turned to see something tall disappearing down the corridor. She followed it down the corridor into a barely lit corridor, she drew her energy pistol and turned the corner and saw one of the blue aliens standing over Chloe's body which was lying on the deck plating. She took aim and fired at the creature only for her weapon to fail her and nothing happened. The alien then noticed her and Claire reached for her radio _

"_Colonel Young come in" she said into her radio scared only for it to buzz with static "Anyone?" she said but there was no response. The alien then started to move towards her, slowly drawing closer. Claire's heart was almost in her throat now and she turned to run only to meet a glass wall that had formed behind her, she turned to try to run past the alien only for another glass wall to appear in front of her trapping her in the narrow space. The alien came up to the glass and Claire realised to her horror that she was back inside the tank as it started to fill with that same cold fluid which was quickly filling the tank and she banged on the glass to try to break free but it was futile and soon the tank was full and despite being surrounded by fluid Claire screamed _

Just as the sound had emerged from her mouth Claire bolted awake, sitting up on her bed with sweat and reached for her pistol at the side of her bed her breathing rapid as she struggled to calm down, this was the third night in a row that she'd been having these nightmares. Sometimes she awoke still in the alien tank, other times they boarded _Destiny_ and captured her, killing the crew in the process. She had tried to focus on work to put her mind off it but the nightmares had established a firm grip over her mind and it was getting harder and harder to ignore.

She got up and dressed in an exercise top and shorts before going for a run around the ship. She set a steady pace but as flashes of the nightmare started to appear in her mind she pushed herself harder and harder setting a blistering pace as she moved quickly around the ship.

Eventually after a half an hour she finally reached her limit, she knew that she had to find some way of dealing with this but she had no idea just what to do. She went for a shower and changed into some fresh clothes and completed her equations for the subspace capacitor. She decided to ask for permission to go to Earth from TJ and the Colonel to report her findings and maybe have some down time if SG-1 and Sam were there.

She arrived at the Colonel's quarters and knocked on the door, the Colonel answered immediately groggy from sleep and dressed in only his boxers, mindful of TJ Claire kept her eyes locked with his.

"Claire it's late" he said and just out of the corner of her eye Claire could see another figure with blonde hair sleeping soundly on Young's bed. Claire thought it best not to comment about that but asked

"I'd like to take the stones back to Earth and report some of the discoveries we've made to Homeworld Security and maybe take some downtime"

Young looked at her, schooling his face not to show his concern "Are you alright Claire?" he asked and Claire kept a straight face

"Yes sir" and he slowly nodded

"Okay you've got it, but I expect you back soon" he said and Claire nodded before leaving for the communications room. Palmer was on duty tonight and the blonde scientist greeted her warmly before Claire sat down and gently placed one of the Ancient Stones on the pad.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

In the Pentagon a 24-year-old corporal Islay Reynolds was taking a shift on the Stone terminal for when someone from _Destiny_ decided to make contact. Then her eyes glazed over for a moment before coming back into focus and looking over at the screen next to her. Claire now in Islay's body looked at the dark-haired corporal who was almost a foot taller than her. A male officer appeared in the doorway and asked

"Who are you?" and in the husky voice of the Corporal Claire told him

"Claire Williams"

"Right this way" he said and led her through the doorway telling her as they walked down the corridor "General O'Neill is away at a conference with the IOA Joint chiefs, is there anywhere you'd like to go?" he asked and Claire thought for a moment

"Is Samantha Carter on Earth at the moment?" and he told her one moment before he made some inquiries through his ear piece.

"Yes she has just gone on maternity leave for the rest of her pregnancy, should I call ahead?" he asked, Claire thought for a moment before saying

"Yes if it's alright I'd like to visit her for a bit" and the officer nodded before going off to check leaving her in a reception room. She sat down on one of the plush sofas and waited and thought about the last few days. After they'd first met the aliens, the Colonel and Camille had had some in depth discussions and had managed to reach a compromise to avoid a mutiny just in time for the aliens had returned and after a brief battle, _Destiny_ had managed to force them to withdraw. Rush had surprised them however by telling the Colonel that he would rather work on his own and Claire remained in charge of the science team.

They'd also discovered what appeared to be a repair robot in the ship's cargo hold, they were just putting the finishing touches to the user interface and then they'd be able to use it to repair the ship. More interesting however was that it had the Ancient symbol for the number six on its side so there could be five others on board.

Claire was woken from her thoughts by the officer returning, she looked up at him and he smiled

"Colonel Carter would be delighted to let you stay with her so if you'll just follow me" he said and Claire got up to follow him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

She sat down silently in the SUV as the officer drove her to Sam's house; she hadn't seen Sam in months and was nervous of how might she might be received. Sam had always been a good mentor, carefully teaching Claire everything she needed to know at the right pace and giving her enough freedom to spread her own wings but wasn't sure if Sam might be disappointed in her for how she'd performed on _Destiny_.

All too soon they pulled up in front of Sam and Jack's house. Since Sam had become pregnant the two had moved in together but they hadn't decided whether to marry or not. Claire after taking a nervous breath got out of the car and walked up to the front door before pressing the doorbell. There was a muffled sound from inside and the door clicked open to see a visibly pregnant Sam dressed in civilian clothing appeared at the door, she asked if she was Claire and immediately pulled her into a tight hug surprising Claire pulled her into the house.

"I've been so worried Claire" she told her as they moved into the kitchen and Sam put a cup of Claire's favourite tea on the side that Sam must have prepared before she'd got here. Claire tasted the heavenly liquid before she sat down at the kitchen table with Sam who had taken to herbal tea during her pregnancy rather than her usual coffee.

"So what projects have you been working on?" Sam asked her and Claire immediately told her

"Well I've finished the blueprints for the X-306…" Claire started as she told her mentor while Sam carefully listened, hoping to pick up what was on Claire's mind.

After a few minutes Claire finished by telling her the discovery she'd had in the subspace capacitor research and promised Sam she'd give her all the particulars when Sam stopped her and asked her outright

"What's wrong?" and Claire immediately stopped and her head fell

"After what happened" she told Sam after a moment "I can't sleep, all I can think about is them of that tank" she said her voice becoming stressed as she carried on "I see them in dreams, when I walk down a corridor I swear I can feel them behind me or see them out of the corner of my eye" tears had started to form by now in the corners of her eyes

Sam reached out and put a hand on her shoulder but Claire got up and continued her rant "I can't sleep and when I do I nothing but nightmares. I feel everyone looking at me like I'm about to break and honestly I feel I might" and before she could say anymore Sam got up and pulled her into a hug as Claire broke into tears

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Claire sat down with Sam for almost an hour just talking, she told Sam everything about what had happened and how she was feeling. Sam to her credit just listened before telling Claire she was proud of her and that she wanted Claire to visit her more in future. Just as they were finishing up the doorbell rang. Sam got up to answer it and Claire watched from the hall way.

"Guys" Sam exclaimed as all of SG-1; Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Captain Jennifer Hailey and Doctor Cassandra Frasier all stood at the door with Atlantis' chief team AR-1; Colonel John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Ronan and Rodney Mckay all standing at her door. Sam stepped aside and they all piled into her living room which while rather spacious now felt a bit cramped.

"We thought we'd all come see you Sam, you must be going mad with nothing to do" John Sheppard told her as Vala held up some brightly coloured bags

"And some things we got for the baby, I got you some of the cutest little shoes ever" Vala told her and thankfully was interrupted by Teyla speaking up

"How does it go?" and Sam smiled

"The morning sickness has thankfully more or less past now, how are you guys doing?" Sam asked, Ronon answered her this time

"They're going to take Atlantis back to Pegasus next week" and Mitchell then held a sort of smile that told them he knew something and he couldn't wait to tell them

"Did you hear that Landry is being promoted to Homeworld Security?" he told them and they shook their heads before Daniel asked

"Who's going to replace him?" Mitchell paused for a moment for dramatic effect before saying in a theatrical slightly overblown voice

"General Samantha Carter" and they all turned to Sam who looked as shocked as they did

"Jack told me that they were looking for someone to take over from Landry but he didn't say I was on the list" Sam told them. Hailey smiled at her old teacher and said

"It's well deserved and I can't think of anyone better for the job" and Cassandra nodded in support before she noticed Claire hovering at the doorway.

"You didn't say you have company Sam" and then they all looked over to see Claire who red-faced at being caught stepped out and said "Hi"

"Whose this Sam?" McKay asked and Sam told them with a smile

"Claire straight from _Destiny_" and the rest of them looked at her for a moment before Jennifer and Cassandra came up and gave her a hug

"Good to see you Red" Jennifer said and Claire grimaced at the nickname but returned the hug anyway and was quickly seized by an overeager Vala into a near bone crushing hug

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They all went out for dinner at a restaurant nearby and not try to all cramp into Sam's dining room, the Indian restaurant was a good one and they all sat and talked to each other, joking and laughing. McKay had become drunk and had started to sing before they'd managed to calm him down and head home. Sam and Claire headed back to Sam's place, Sam and her quickly made the spare bedroom ready before bidding each other goodnight. Whether it was the knowledge that she was far from the aliens or that her mentor was nearby she didn't know, but that night Claire didn't have a nightmare.

The following morning she got up early and helped Sam make breakfast, while they were eating their meal, the doorbell rang and Sam shouted "It's open"

They heard the door open and close and Jennifer came in "Hey in time for breakfast? Sorry I forgot I was hoping we could get to work on Claire's data" she asked and with a sigh Sam put some extra toast and cereal on. 'Jennifer was getting more like me every day' Sam thought to herself but didn't tell the young woman that

"What's it's like on _Destiny_? Nothing like Atlantis I bet" Jennifer asked her and Sam gave her a look but Claire decided to answer

"It's depressing, with Atlantis at least you can look at the sun in the day but on _Destiny_ we only have one long endless night unless we can go planet side. If the ship's systems aren't failing we are nearly always hungry or thirsty, we can only dread what is coming next and batten down the hatches when it comes because we can't control the ship" Claire described their situation and Jennifer couldn't help but remark at their bleak conditions

"Now why don't we go and work on the data brought back" Claire said bring them away from the subject of _Destiny_ so the three of them headed to the attic where Sam had set up a lab of sorts with two white boards and a top of the range computer. Claire added the changes she's made to the plans of the X-306 on to the copy of the blueprints Sam had before writing her equations for the subspace capacitor on the white board. When she was finished Sam and Jennifer looked on in amazement

"Of course that's why we could never get it to work" Jennifer said seeing where their previous attempts had gone wrong and Sam looked on thoughtfully

"I've been working on a project for using the Asgard transporter to create matter from energy; but the problem that we could never deal with was the energy requirements to make anything big. With your design for the subspace capacitor we can now get around that problem. It could be the most valuable tool the SGC has besides the Stargate itself. Constructing and expanding both home world and off-world bases especially shipyards will now be far easier because we can replicate all the materials we would need" Sam explained to them

"But if someone were to use it to make valuable metals, nukes or things like that it could easily be misused" Jennifer finished and Claire made a bold suggestion

"Maybe we could set up system lock outs so that certain things are forbidden from being replicated. Between us and Daniel we should be able to make a secure enough system" and both Sam and Jennifer looked at her surprised

"That's pretty daring" Sam told her but Claire said

"Yes maybe but in the long run it will be better and I know that it will make people angry but they'd be the definition of a fool if they turned this technology away so they'll moan but there's little they could do about it" Claire told them and with uncertain looks Sam and Jennifer nodded

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As the women worked all day on the design for the new system and Daniel joined them to work out the security locks a call came in from Homeland Security for Claire. She listened to the officer making the call before her face became slack and as she hung up she told them what had been said

"Colonel Young is recalling me to _Destiny_" and the others faces became understanding as she replaced the phone and with some reluctance got a jacket on before waiting to be picked up. Daniel and Jennifer gave her a big hug and Sam when she was picked up by the Air Force SUV made her promise to return again soon.

After returning to the Pentagon, Claire took the stone that was holding her consciousness in this body and removed it from the pad and instantly found herself back in the dimly lit corridors and rooms of the ancient ship she now called home. Riley was there to meet her

"Good trip?" he asked her and Claire smiled before saying

"Yeah good trip"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_The bit about the Limiters put in to prevent misuse of the replication system was inspired from the Ageless Section of Stargatesg1fan1's story New Path who graciously let me use it. _

_Thank you_

_I thought about doing 'Divided' but with Claire acting as a mediator between civilian and military it seemed less likely to happen especially as Rush in this reality wasn't left behind deliberately _

_Please review and let me know what you think_


	17. Chapter 17 Faith

_I do not own Stargate Universe; I only created the character of Claire Williams_

_Warning Bad Language and suggestive imagery_

**Chapter 17 – Faith**

The crew of Destiny were going about their lives as normally as they could, the last few days since the first encounter with the blue aliens had shocked the crew, but they hoped that after removing the transmitter they'd discovered inside Rush's chest that they might slip away into the dark reaches of space but Young was certain that if the aliens were determined enough they would find them again.

TJ had moved into Colonel Young's quarters so he could help as much as he could through her pregnancy, this morning after he had woken and gone to work he'd decided to let her sleep. Training Chloe as her assistant was tiring as well as being the only medical officer on board, but the alarm set by TJ went off and despite how tired she was she got up and made herself ready for work. The symptoms of her pregnancy had yet to fully show themselves so at the moment at least she didn't have to worry about that.

Meanwhile in another room on the ship, Matthew Scott was shaving in front of the dirty mirror in his quarters, only to stop when he felt the sharp sting of a cut as he drew the razor down his jaw.

In the mess hall Camille was playing absent minded with a bowl of something that Becker had come up with. It was supposed to be edible but Camille couldn't even bring herself to take one spoon full of the yellowish paste.

The air of depression was taking a firm hold on the crew as they went about their daily lives, the pressure and danger of their lives with no end in sight was really starting to get to them.

Rush was no more affected than the rest of them but he was anxious to return to work after his surgery despite his body needing more time to heal. He slowly and rather unsteadily made his way into the control interface room where Claire, Brody and Park were working.

"Should you be out of bed?" Lisa Park asked as Rush lent against a wall to steady himself

"There's too much work to be done. It's best we get on with it" he said waving off their concerns as he slowly made his way to the panel which was unoccupied but he started to fall only for Claire to catch him at the last moment and sit him up against the wall

"Whoa best just stay there till you get your feet back" Claire told him, he struggled to get back on his feet immediately but Claire held him down and told him

"Look why don't you go and get some rest till you're up to returning to work we've got this covered" she said and Rush looked ready to argue but then he nearly fell again after Claire let him try to get up and he had to concede that he wasn't going to get far today. Claire decided to give him something to do

"Why don't you look into this idea we had for the chair?" Claire told him giving him a memory stick with the research on the buffer for downloading the ancient repositories "Maybe you can get it to work while we continue ship repairs" she told him gently hoping that the chair might distract him till he was better.

Rush looked intrigued at the project she was giving him but had to ask "What have done so far?"

"We managed to get the repair robot we found working and its already plugged up the holes that the aliens made in the hull and right now it's fixing the breach on the inside of the broken shuttle, at its present rate we should be airtight in couple of hours and hopefully have another operational shuttle before the end of the day after tomorrow" she told him and he nodded

"Well that would certainly be useful" before he tried to get up again only for Claire to help him up this time before asking Brody

"Could you get Rush to his quarters?" and Brody came forward to help a rather humbled Rush back to his quarters.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A while later Brody after getting Rush back to his quarters donned an environmental suit and checked the airtightness of the repairs made by the robot and after Lisa Park pressurized the shuttle the repairs held.

"Right good work guys now let's get work started on the rest of the shuttle, I want you two too make a list of all the damaged systems we know about and make a repair list in order of priority" Claire said as she activated the interface for the repair robot and gave it its orders to fix the damaged propulsion systems of the Ancient spacecraft. She watched in amazement as the bulky spider like machine went to work straight away and started to fix the broken systems. At the rate it was working, they might have the shuttle fixed a lot sooner than they'd expected.

"Roger that" Lisa and Brody told her as they went off to complete their jobs

Colonel Young walked in just after she'd clicked off the radio link and said "Report"

"Well good morning to you too" said Claire a little miffed at his order but a look on his face made her tell him "We got the repair robot to fix the hull breaches made by the aliens after they drilled into the ship and we've just managed to make the damaged shuttle airtight again and we should have it near fully operational by the day after tomorrow" and Young looked pleased but said

"When you've got the hang of operating that thing I want you to get to work fixing weapons and shields in case of another attack" he told her and she nodded

"Once we have a list of the damaged systems we'll get started" and he looked satisfied then they felt the ship dropping out of FTL. The Colonel immediately went for his radio

"Lt Scott come in we have just dropped out of FTL, please get a team on standby" and Scott on his end answered

"Yes sir" Claire meanwhile was checking the readings the ship was giving her and something caught her eye

"The gate isn't dialling"

Young asked "Why not?" and Claire looked into the readings

"Because there's nothing there, there's no gates in range" and just to be sure Claire double checked only for the same results to come back.

"What?" Young said as confused as Claire was. Before the ship had only dropped out of FTL when they had entered range of a Stargate but this time there wasn't one

"We've dropped out into empty space and I mean empty" she told him "No stars or planets, absolutely nothing" but then Brody's voice sounded on the radio

"Ah you might want to check that data" as from the shuttle window he could see in the distance a bright yellow star, a star that the ship was saying wasn't there.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The senior members of the crew both civilian and military gathered on the observation deck to look out at the sun that according to the data shouldn't be there

"The ships that are seeding the stargates ahead of _Destiny_, I thought that they sent a record of the star systems in our path" Eli asked as he lent against the railings

"They do" Rush said simply "That star is not supposed to be here"

"Well it is here so if someone could come up with an explanation I would like to hear it" Camille said and Claire put forward two

"Well either the seed ships didn't come this way to map it but given that we are following their course it is unlikely" Claire said "Or when the seed ship came past here, that star wasn't there" stunning them all with her idea

"Okay stars don't just pop up from nowhere" Eli said but Rush being a fellow astrophysicist saw where she was coming from

"If someone where able to accelerate the collapse of molecular clouds into spheres of plasma and then accelerate the development of the sphere into a star then it might be possible to create a star in the few thousand years since the seed ship past through" Rush theorised and Claire nodded as he mirrored her thoughts

"Not even the Ancients at their height could do that" Claire said surprising the assembled crew who were lost as to where Claire and Rush were going with this

"Ascended maybe?" Rush suggested

"Possibly if enough of them were behind it but why would they bother?" Claire said as both of them tried to imagine how powerful the aliens who could do this would be

"Hold it right there, are you saying someone made that star?" Young asked this face becoming stern

"Well we'll need to check some readings but I'm almost convinced that it is indeed the case" Claire told him and both she, Eli, Rush and Young left for the Control room.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"It is a G-2 star, yellow dwarf not that different from our sun" Rush reported as they took a detailed looked at the burning orb in space "Because _Destiny_ didn't know it was here, its gravity well has disrupted our propulsion systems causing us to drop out of FTL prematurely" and Rush looked like he was going to past out as his words falter so Claire took over so Rush could get his breath back

"So _Destiny_ has entered a parabolic course so that once we have gotten around the star we'll be far enough away from its gravitational influence to get into FTL and back on the road" she told them

"How long is it going to take?" Young asked and Claire did some projections and nearly groaned

"Four weeks at least" she told them but quickly added "However there is a plus side" and she called up the planet they had detected in orbit of the star "A habitable planet roughly the same size as Earth"

"Looks close" Eli said and Claire nodded

"Within shuttle range for a while at least" she said and indicated what she meant on the holographic screen "The atmosphere is as close to perfect as is possible in the real world"

Colonel Young looked thoughtful for a moment before making his decision "We'll send an expedition via the shuttle"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Just after the shuttle carrying the volunteers led by Scott and TJ left Eli, Claire and Rush trawled back and forth through the system to check if there was a system fault of some kind. After confirming that there wasn't one Rush again nearly collapsed and Claire told him to return to the project she had given him till he was strong enough to return to duty. He looked ready to argue but the pain and weariness he was feeling won out and he with Volker's help returned to his quarters.

They confirmed that the star appeared to be at least two hundred million years old by its activity but there was no way that the gate seeding ships would have missed the star or failed to put a stargate on the planet which given the apparent age of the star should still have been a molten ball of rock. So with some reservation Claire's theory became the accepted one albeit with some reservation.

'Well' Claire thought to herself 'At least we can use the time to make some more system repairs'

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The group on the planet reported that they had found fresh water and abundant plant life that wasn't just good to eat but also to make medicine but no wildlife and rather than stay the night they agreed to load up the shuttle and come back to the ship.

"How is the repair work on the other shuttle going?" Young asked her and she gave him a smile

"It'll be finished by mid-day tomorrow" and Young couldn't hide his surprise

"I thought you said it would take longer than that" he said but Claire told him

"It's one busy little robot, it's already nearly finished the thrusters assembly, the guidance system and the control interface. By tomorrow it should have gotten through the inertial dampeners and weapons grid. It'll be as operable as the other one soon enough" she told him

"Good" he said still a bit surprised and Claire made a request

"After it's done with the shuttle I'd like to get to work fixing the stasis food locker here on Destiny. If we can get it fixed then we can store up to three times the food for far longer before we have to resupply" Claire told him. With the repair bot it shouldn't be too hard or take as long

Young was conflicted; the military side of him was ordering him to get the ship ready in case of another alien attack. But the more civilian orientated side told him that the crew's well-being comes first. He thought about it for a few minutes before telling her

"Alright but make it quick" and Claire smiled at him before going off to carry out her duties, not seeing the small grin on Young's face as she turned her back.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After discovering the obelisk, Rush and Claire became more convinced than ever that some alien race had created the planet. But it looked like they were long gone so they decided to carry on for the moment and leave the obelisk alone. A group of people including Scott, TJ, Chloe and Caine decided to return to the planet to gather food and supplies while _Destiny_ continued its journey around the star and would pick them up once in range again.

Claire didn't particularly want to go to the planet; she was far more fascinated with her work here. Young wasn't too happy about TJ going down to the mysterious planet but with her medical skills it was essential she go; so Young made Scott promise that he would watch over her closely while they were down there.

The damaged shuttle was fixed soon after they left and Claire quickly set the machine to work on the stasis food locker making short work of it before Claire powered it down so that it could recharge before tomorrow morning so they could continue their repairs.

Brody and Park submitted the list and Claire grimaced when she and Young looked it over, the ship was in worse condition than they'd thought. Even with the repair robot it could takes months to fix all the damage the ship had sustained over the millions of years.

So Rush and Claire prioritised the power distribution system so they could avoid any system overloads like the ones they had sustained in their previous battles with the aliens. The shields and weapon systems were next and then repairing all the hull breaches and after that go from there.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Young after watching TJ and the others off went to the stone room to do something he had been holding off for a while now. He couldn't keep Emily hanging anymore, she deserved a chance to be happy and TJ did as well especially now she was carrying his child and was going to need his help. He with some hesitation took the stone and placed it on the pad.

He instantly arrived at the Pentagon where he was greeted by an officer who took him home after he filled out a report on everything that had happened since his last one. He was not looking forward to this but he had to do it.

When he arrived at the house he saw that Emily's car was parked in the driveway, good so she was home he thought but when he knocked on the door there was no answer. Again he knocked and again no answer. Getting a bit worried now he took the key that they'd hidden under some loose bricks on their patio and carefully opened the door. He thought about calling out but something kept him from doing so.

He as silently as possible cleared the downstairs and was heading upstairs when he heard something coming from the main bedroom, it was so muffled that he could barely hear it so he crept silently to the door and as quickly as he could opened it and in doing so saw something that made any regret he had about divorcing Emily die.

He had always thought that in their relationship, it was him that was the bad one and the only bad one. He had hardly been around and admittedly only one affair which was with TJ. To him Emily had been a tirelessly loyal woman who he had been proud to call his wife even if he felt he didn't deserve her, staying true to her marriage vows despite the temptation that must have been around.

Until right now, when he looked at his loyal wife naked and sweaty riding Telford screaming in pleasure as he thrust up into her, the moment that he had barged in however the rutting couple stopped to look at the source of the interruption

"Who the hell are you?" Telford demanded but Young ignored him and focused on Emily who had wrapped a blanket around herself and looked angry and flustered before he said in a voice that could have frozen a desert

"You can have a divorce Emily" and then it dawned on Emily who it was

"Everett" she exclaimed in alarm and without further word despite her pleas for him to come back, Everett Young walked out of the house that he would never return too, stopping only to tell the waiting officer to take him back to the Pentagon and also if he knew a good lawyer.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

On _Destiny_ the time was passing slowly as ship moved its way around the sun, the crew tried to pass the time as best they could. Claire and Rush and those of the science team still left on the ship spent the time either chilling out or fixing the ship with both their own hands and the repair robot.

Claire was a bit sad that Chloe and TJ weren't around but she understood that they had wanted to go the planet, so she and Vanessa had been hanging out together, sharing late night stories in their quarters and even exploring the ship together. She'd also been spending more time with Camille who had taken to doing exercises with them. One morning in fact Claire had been helping Camille do sit-ups

"Thirty One" Claire said as Camille did the exercise "Thirty Two" as she did then next one until Camille finally reached eighty and finished her sit-ups for the day.

"Oh I haven't worked out like this in years" Camille said out of breath as she finished and Claire gave her a smile

"Yeah but the benefits will be worth it" but Camille said disbelievingly

"When?" and Claire shook her head "In time now why don't we hit the showers"

"Good idea" the still out of breath Camille said as Claire helped her to her feet "I've got some stone time and I'm thinking of going home to see Sharon"

"Who's Sharon?"

"The love of my life" Camille told her and Claire nodded in understanding.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Later on as they got closer to the star, Rush channelled power from propulsion while it was off line to the shields so that they could explore some of the damaged areas of the ship, Claire followed Vanessa and her team as they moved through the area making note of anything potentially useful on her PDA onto which she had uploaded a basic map of the ship to mark useful areas for the repair list. Claire had started to become really bored along with the rest and was writing new computer programs each day to past the time or playing card games with the others when she wasn't exploring the ship with Vanessa.

"So first kiss" Vanessa asked Claire as they moved from one room to another through the barely lit corridors passing nothing of any particular interest.

"Hmm that would be Colin Danvers in my senior year of high school" Claire told her friend. Vanessa seemed surprised

"Senior Year" she said

"Well you know me, I'm not that comfortable around intimate relationships and I didn't really get interested in guys till quite late. Still he was good kisser and a month after" she said suggestively causing Vanessa to smirk at her

"Good?" she said and Claire smiled a suggestive little smile

"Real good"

The two women laughed as they moved down the dark corridor finding only empty storage areas and quarters. They found one room that looked like a second observation deck but the transparent material of its doom had cracked and broken leaving big holes that the shield was keeping closed. Claire began to write up a repair program for the repair bot so it could seal the hull breaches behind them as they checked each area to reclaim as much of the ship as possible. They did find another big store room that had more ancient crates in it though and they decided to check them before moving on to the next area.

Finally just as they were about to move on, Barnes opened a really big box revealing a familiar looking machine inside. They immediately called Colonel Young and Doctor Rush down

"So this is another repair robot?" Young asked as by torchlight they examined the large machine

"Yeah nearly identical to the other one" Rush said as he checked it over for damage and found none "Well it's in good condition"

"We should be able to make a separate interface for this one soon enough, its sure make repairs go a lot quicker" Claire commented

"Alright get it back to the main areas, work on it there" Young ordered before he and Rush left and Claire, Vanessa and a marine named Smith started the difficult task of moving the heavy robot into the corridor and from there into the lift.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After dumping the second repair robot in the area set aside as a workshop Vanessa headed to report to Colonel Young, with both Scott and TJ off the ship she was his second in command and Vanessa was proving more than up to the task. Claire began writing up the new control interface for the new robot which was a lot quicker this time having down it once before and set the machine immediately to work repairing the shield emitters near the observation deck before she heard some news

"Eleven" Rush said annoyed as Colonel told him about people wanting to stay on the planet

"Including some of my own people and Scott has the nerve to ask me to fly him back down to the planet after he drops off the ones who are returning to the ship" Young told Rush, Camille and Claire who'd gathered in his quarters

"Well, I can understand some of them wanting to stay but Lieutenant Scott and TJ" Camille remarked, Young continued by saying

"Yeah he says that he feels an obligation to help the people survive down there"

"What are you going to do?" Camille asked and Young remarked

"What am I going to do? I'm going to make sure that they don't stay down there that's for damned sure" but Camille objected

"No, no you cannot force them to come back" but Rush felt differently

"No I think he can. We're going to lose more people through attrition on this ship. We simply cannot afford to shed that many people at one time"

Claire decided to tell them something she'd noticed on the scans they'd taken

"The planet will soon be going into a winter like season in the next few weeks that's not enough time for those who stay to find good enough shelter or gather enough food to see them through most of them won't likely survive"

And a grim feeling descended on the room

"So what do expect him to do? Bring them back at gun point" Camille said desperately trying to avoid violence

"Well if it comes to that yes" Rush said and Claire looked uncomfortable as worried. The planet might be lush and verdant now but soon enough it would be too cold to survive and also the fact the TJ one of those who was staying was their only medic with her duty Chloe staying on the planet as well.

The silence in the room was heavy as they wondered how to get those people back to _Destiny_ without having to resort to brute force.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A while later Claire and Colonel Young sat in the repaired shuttle as it zoomed down to the planet, as the green and blue planet came into view Claire could see why they wanted to stay, during the spring and summer this world would be a paradise and now they had the unpleasant task of getting them to abandon it.

"What are you going to say to her?" Claire asked Young who answered without looking

"I don't know" and they quickly arrived at the camp landing smoothly before unbuckling and leaving the shuttle as they walked to the small camp. Whether it was her imagination or not she could feel a chill in the air and was glad she had brought a jacket.

Those at the camp looked on as they walked in; some averted their gaze like Chloe, Scott and TJ. Others like Caine looked on defiantly. Colonel Young spoke first

"Has anyone changed their minds about returning to the ship?" he asked and Scott said uncomfortably as his superior officer and role model looked him in the eye

"No"

"Alright" he said without emotion "Claire tell them" as he turned to Claire who immediately found herself the centre of attention and pushed down her nerves to tell them what she had discovered

"This planet in about four or five weeks will enter an all over winter season; we estimate that the temperature will drop to below freezing. You do not have sufficient time to gather enough food to survive the winter which could go on for nearly four months and you certainly don't have enough time to build shelter to stay warm" She told them and their faces immediately showed the effects of her words. Some were shocked before their faces flew as their hopes were dashed but some like Caine denied her declaration angrily

"You're lying" some of the shouted and Claire answered back calmly

"I only wish I was, but I have given you the facts and your choice is this. Stay on this planet and almost certainly freeze to death or starve to death when your food runs out; or you can take a chance and return to _Destiny_" she laid down their choice in front of them and waited to see what they would do

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

TJ felt as if her heart was breaking, her dreams of raising her child here, in this safe and habitable world were crumbling in her hands, she looked at Claire who looked too sure of herself to leave any doubt she was telling the truth. She couldn't help but feel hate that her best friend would come and do this to her but the hatred was short lived as TJ stepped forward to join Everett feeling like a prisoner who just been released from a prison and was being forced to return and with each step tears rolled down her cheeks. Chloe had similar thoughts as did Scott but in the end a chance at life was better than no chance at all.

"We're not leaving" Caine demanded as they looked at him surprised "This planet was put here by a higher power, a higher power that could help us return home I won't leave" he said with a note of finality in his voice

"If you stay you will die, do you realise that?" Young asked him but Caine's conviction was too strong

"I don't believe that the force that left this planet here for us would let us die here" and Young realised it was pointless to argue with him

"If that is your choice the shuttle I have just arrived in will be left here to provide shelter those who are returning to the ship will join me in the other shuttle" Young told them giving a small chance of survival and he led the way to the loaded with supplies shuttle followed by all the military personnel, Chloe, Val and Peter all walked to the shuttle the Colonel had indicated while Caine, Dana, Rachel, Norris and Vince Kwan decided to take the risk and stay.

The crew of the shuttle was silent as it took off leaving those who were almost certain to die behind. Chloe comforted TJ as they left the planet they had been hoping to call home

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Later to try and lift the sombre mood, the Colonel ordered a feast for the entire crew were they could eat as much as they wanted for just one night. Claire sat next to Vanessa laughing and joking with Greer and Young when Claire noticed TJ wasn't in the room with them and she caught Young's eye and he went off to find the young blonde medic.

It didn't take Young long; she was holed up in the infirmary sobbing as her fears for her child and the life they were going to lead ravaged her mind. Young took TJ in his arms, she didn't resist and let her cry as he gently rubbed her back and let her fall asleep in his arms

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**


	18. Chapter 18 Reflections

_I do not own Stargate Universe _

**Chapter 18 – Reflections**

The ship had left the constructed system a few days ago and while the crew hoped the best for their departed comrades but life went on, so they continued to try and survive while this ship continued on to where ever it was going. The two repair robots had been busy and now had repaired some of the power transfer conduits and storage improving power efficiency by 6 %. Not a huge rise but they'd take it. They also been sealing up some move of the hull breaches, including the big domed room that they had found on their first day which they were going to try and turn into a new hydroponics area to provide more food and oxygen and even better it was less of a drain on the shield because it no longer had to try and seal the area.

The ship had just dropped out of FTL and dialled another planet; the Kino reported that it was much like Earth if a bit hotter and interestingly had old ruins on it, showing that there had once been life here.

Colonel Young had agreed to send a team led by Lieutenant Scott along with Eli who insisted on coming, originally Chloe was going to join him and so was Greer. But while Greer had been on their makeshift target range his energy pistol had overloaded. He wasn't killed by a complete miracle but it was going to be a few days before he was back on his feet and Chloe was getting surgery lessons from TJ. So Claire had joined Scott and Eli with Lisa Park. The poor woman hadn't been off ship since they'd arrived on _Destiny_ and needed to breathe some fresh air.

"Right just a quick look around then come back, who knows what could be down there" Young told them as they geared up in desert gear and armed themselves

"Understood sir" Scott told his superior who he was still uneasy with after the planet and wanting to jump ship and they made their way to the stargate room and Eli with a Kino hovering over his shoulder looked at Lisa and started to pester the nervous woman with question

"So first alien planet, how are you feeling?" Eli asked Lisa who paled a bit as he kept the Kino focused on her

"Err a bit nervous" Lisa said as she started to go red with embarrassment but Claire said to Eli

"Eli quit it" and he obeyed her orders with a gulp as she gave him a stare that could scare a professional soldier. Lisa looked relieved as the Kino was directed away from her and when they arrived the gate was already dialled and open simmering in its normal way before walking through.

In the Control Interface room Rush was with Volker checking on the readings for the area when Volker noticed something

"Err Doctor Rush, you might want to take a look at this" and an annoyed Rush sighed before coming over to Volker's panel and looked at the readings. A frown crossed his face as he saw the strange looking storm that seemed to be moving across space and had just now moved between _Destiny_ and the planet. He reached for his radio and called

"Colonel Young come in" and at the other end the colonel answered

"Don't send the team to the planet, there's some sort of anomaly between us and the planet it could interfere with the wormhole"

A grim silence followed before Young said "They've already gone" and Rush went silent for a moment as he thought about Claire and Eli, his only two equals on board and Lisa Park and Lieutenant Scott

"Did the Kino show them arriving?" Rush asked and Young said

"No"

"Well where did they go?" Volker asked and Rush could only speculate

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Instead on the planet with sunlight and nice breezes like they had expected, the four travellers where thrown violently out of the gate sending them across the room. Eli was the first to rise and looked around to figure out where the heck they were.

It looked like the Gate Room on _Destiny_ was his first thought but he then noticed the crates that lined the walls one of which he was leaning against as he pulled himself to his feet. The crates had some kind of writing on them that he couldn't understand and the lighting in the room seemed dimmer than a few moments ago. His companions rose to their feet as well and looked around equally confused by the changes in the room that they had been in only seconds ago but where rudely interrupted as men and women in rough leather outfits came running in pointing weapons at them and before they could even put their hands in the air they were roughly shoved to the ground and pinned before their hands were bound in some kind of bindings and their weapons and equipment taken. Claire from her uncomfortable position was able to catch Lisa's terrified eyes and some of the faces of the people who were restraining them and a really worried Claire noticed that these people were not members of the expedition.

They were picked up and led through the corridors where they sure yet more people they didn't know and violently shoved into a disused cargo area. They all moaned as their bodies ached from the rough handling.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The man who led the capture of the intruders known as Dannic made his way to interface room where his commander was waiting. He saw a couple of techs working there including that little bitch Ginn who cowered when she saw him but he ignored her. Kiva, his boss walked over to meet him and asked in her no nonsense tone

"What came out of the stargate?" she asked with eyes as cold as space itself

"Four humans; two male and two female, we've restrained them and put them in the empty holding room for now. One of them was wearing the same uniforms as the Tau'ri that we dumped" he told her and her eyes narrowed

"Well bring one of the females to storage room, I'll interrogate them myself" she told him

"Yes Commander" Dannic said nodding as he left

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire was dragged through the corridor Dannic and two of his men; she was thrown onto the storage room floor where Kiva was waiting with a sneer on her face and Kiva didn't wait to start

"Who are you?" Kiva asked and Claire looked up as best she was able but didn't answer. The sneer on Kiva's face grew wider and more sinister as she reached for something out of one of the crates

"Well I think we'll just have to encourage some co-operation, won't we?" Kiva said in a nasty tone and although Claire couldn't see what Kiva was reaching for, Dannic and his men could and they smirked.

Claire was pulled to her knees suddenly by Dannic and Kiva walked behind her and jabbed something into her back and her world exploded into a horribly familiar pain as she began to scream.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile in the holding room; Scott, Eli and Lisa were still bound and lying on the floor unable to do much but roll about. Eli decided that talking might lighten the grim mood

"So what do we think parallel universe? I mean it's so like the Mirror Universe" Eli said while Scott and Lisa just stared at him in disbelief that he could be making fiction references right now but Eli took their expressions as confusion and clarified "Star trek the original series season 2 episode 4" and Scott shook his head while Lisa started to fiddle blindly with the bindings behind her back hoping to find some kind of release.

"Eli focus, we have no idea as to where we are, we're tied up and locked in a cupboard and I dread to think what they're doing to Claire right now" Scott told him sternly, he might like the computer geek and consider him a close friend but this was a serious situation and they needed to keep it together if they were ever going to get back to their _Destiny_.

Lisa Park meanwhile cried out in triumph drawing the attention of both men as she finally managed to undo the knot in the bindings and slip her hands free. She massaged her wrists for a moment before coming over and releasing Eli and Scott. All three took the opportunity to stand up and look for a way out. Eli and Lisa looked at the door panel and announced after a minute that the thing had been disconnected on this side leaving them stuck in here till someone opened it from the outside. They sat on the floor leaning their backs against the walls as they all wondered what to down

"We could wait for them to open it and then rush them?" Eli suggested but Scott shook his head

"With their guns we'd be cut down in seconds" and just as Lisa was about to suggest something, the door opened and they quickly hid their hands behind their backs to hide the fact they'd managed to release their hands. A rough looking man appeared with guards behind him and he threw a nearly unconscious Claire into the room still bound. The moment that the door closed they moved over to check her and remove her bindings. Lisa used her limited medical skills to check her over

"Hey Claire Hey" Scott said as he held Claire's face trying to get her attention and her eyes wearily opened a little and Scott asked "Are you alright?" then chastised himself at his question when it was abundantly clear she wasn't.

"I feel terrible" Claire said weakly as Scott propped her up against the wall and Lisa told him

"She's exhausted but I think she's going to be okay" and Eli asked her

"So what did they want?" he asked and Claire told him after getting a little of her strength back

"Who we are, if there are any more of us" Claire said after Scott gave her a drink from his water flask which thankfully hadn't been taken "Actually I learned more from them than they did from me"

"And" Scott asked

"This is an alternative universe where the Lucian Alliance controls _Destiny_, apparently there's some kind of space storm moving between _Destiny_ and the planet here that's disrupting gate travel there must be a similar one in our universe" Claire said more steadily and Eli gave a triumphant comment

"See Mirror universe I was right" but Lisa told him to shut up and he went quiet allowing Claire to continue

"In this universe the Lucian Alliance found another Icarus like planet and sent a group led by this woman Kiva to _Destiny_. Telford was the commander in this universe and he surrendered without a fight, and rather than just shooting the Earth group they were put down on some desert planet they came across to die" and she gratefully took another sip of water before saying "And although there was an Eli Wallace and a Lisa Park in the other group there was no Matthew Scott or Claire Williams so either Matt or I don't exist here or we were just never on Icarus base" and she gave the flask back to a surprised Scott

"So what do we do now?" Eli asked and Claire told him

"I let it slip that we we're techs and Matt is a pilot, it gives us value so hopefully they won't just kill us or dump us off ship till we can figure a way back to our universe" Claire told him, the memory of the pain sticks being used on her again was still vivid in her mind. She had managed to avoid telling them where they were from but only through a lot of effort.

"Can we get back?" Lisa asked nervously. She only read about things like this happening and had never expected something like it to happen to her. Let alone on her first away mission

"If we can reverse what sent us here while the storm remains between us and the planet yes" Claire said "But the storm will past in just a few hours so no pressure"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

After a while Kiva came to the room herself and they quickly put their bindings back on albeit loosely so they could take them off at a moment's notice. Kiva looked over them like a queen surveying peasants and sneered at them like them were beneath her before saying

"If any of you have anything worthwhile to tell me about this ship, now would be the time" Scott, Eli and Lisa stayed quiet determined not to help Kiva in anyway but Claire saw an opportunity

"I could show you the location of the repair robot" she suggested and was hurt by the betrayed looks that the others sent her but didn't allow it to show. Better make them all think that she was co-operating and if the others treated her as traitor it would make it all the more believable.

Kiva looked at Claire thoughtfully before asking "Repair Robot?" and Claire was about to speak before Scott said aloud

"Don't tell them anything" and Kiva walked over and kicked him straight in the face and the other prisoners blanched before Kiva asked again

"Repair Robot?" and Claire schooled her features to become impassive before explaining

"It's a robot drone that the Ancients used to repair the ship, I could show you were it is" she suggested and did her best to focus on Kiva rather than the betrayed faces of her comrades especially Scott's which was now sporting a nosebleed. Kiva looked satisfied, convinced that Claire was trying to save her own skin and made her decision

"Very well show us" and Claire pressed her back against the wall to get to her feet and walked out of the make shift cell and Kiva followed her and shut the door behind them. Claire took great care to cover up her loosened bindings. Kiva turned to Dannic and told him "Take a team and have her show you where this robot is" and the man nodded before Kiva added "If she's lying kill her after you've had some fun with her" she added with an aura of menace and nasty sneers appeared on the faces of men around Claire who felt very scared for a moment but suppressed it, not allowing herself to be controlled by her fear.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

She was led by Dannic and five of his men to the control interface room where a female red headed Lucian Alliance technician was working. Claire said

"We need to increase the strength of the shields in the area we'll be going to or we'll never make it" she explained to him and then she turned to the tech that had looked up at her curious "Do you know how to do that?" and a glare told her that the girl did indeed know and so as Dannic followed her to the panel she nodded towards the area they needed and the tech followed her instructions increasing the power of the shields in the right area so it could hold its atmosphere. Claire took the opportunity to study the system readouts and saw that the Lucian Alliance crew had clearly not managed to reach as far as they had in exploring the ship and clearly did not understand the systems as well.

Well then let's go" Dannic said and seized her arm to pull her roughly out of the room.

She was lend along the corridors of _Destiny_ which while still the same physically as her _Destiny_, Claire felt an air of menace in them now as if the mood of the ship had changed with its new owners. The lit corridors quickly gave way to the unlit ones of the unexplored areas of the ships and she gave her captors the directions they needed to reach the store room where it her universe they had found the second repair robot. She had no intentions of giving them the cargo bays and all the equipment in there.

They arrived in the cargo room that like on her ship was littered with boxes and Claire said

"This is it, the robots in one of those boxes" and Dannic who watched her told his men to check out the boxes. Without a care as to condition of the content the men began tearing the lids off the boxes and throwing them away. It only took a few minutes before one of them found the robot and called Dannic over. Claire waited for Dannic to make his assessment before he told two of his men

"Take her back to storage room; we might have need of her later"

The weasel like pair took her by the arms and began to escort her back to makeshift cell and just as they left the area where the shields had been enhanced Claire saw an opportunity

"Wait" she cried out and both of them were so surprised they did just that and she said in false fear "I forgot about the armoury we just past"

"What armoury?" one of them asked with a dumb look on his face

"The armoury where the Ancients hid their weapons of course" she said and nodded her head at the door they had just past "Right there, imagine what Kiva will say if you can give her a room full of weapons. She'll make you two her top lieutenants" she added drawing them in.

The two men thought about the rewards Kiva would give them for such a useful discover. They could replace Dannic as her top dog, a man that both of them hated. So they released her arms and went to the door she had indicated and opened it, eagerly awaiting the sight of weapons. Claire released her hands and braced herself against the wall.

The sight that greeted the two hapless men was not what they had expected as they both went the suction of the hull breach on the other side of door and were two slow to grasp onto the wall before they were sucked out into space. Claire managed to cling to the wall as she made her way to the door control and hit it to close the door and seal the hull breach. She got her breath back before heading as quickly as she could into the dark corridors of the ship. She really didn't like what she had just done, effectively killing two men but right now she had focus on getting herself and her team back to their _Destiny_. Guilt would have to wait till later.

She made her way through the largely deserted corridors; she hoped that what she was heading for was still there.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile in the cell, the other prisoners were still trapped and Eli was moaning on and on

"I can't believe Claire would just give them the robot, I thought she was better than that" and Lisa told him sternly

"Eli shut up I can't think with your endless moaning" and the door suddenly started to open and they looked over expecting to see Claire or some Lucian Alliance guard only to see a woman with long blonde hair dressed in a torn Icarus uniform with the rank bars of a second lieutenant come in. She had a haggard face that was far too thin and would have been a beautiful face if she could just put a bit of weight on and clean her messy and tangled hair. She was carrying a tray with bowls and a spoon on it and the guard closed the door behind her

"I thought you might like something to eat" the unknown woman told them and Eli's stomach rumbled reminding them of just how hungry they actually were and an embarrassed Eli who couldn't feel threatened by this woman said

"Thank you" and the woman went over to Scott first and with the single spoon gently fed him. Scott asked her gently

"What's your name?" and she looked up surprised. No-one had cared about her enough to want to know her name in a while

"Kathleen" she told him in a scared voice

"My name's Matthew" he told her with a smile hoping to cultivate an ally

"I had a brother name Matthew once, but he died when I was young" she said before going over to feed Eli when Matt noticed the name on her uniform

Scott

"Your surname isn't Scott by any chance is it?" he asked "Your parents died when you were young and you were raised by a Catholic priest named George who drank himself to death?"

The surprise on her face was immediate, how had this man known that about her and the looks on Eli and Lisa's faces were much the same

"How did you know?" she said in shock and he looked at her while still a bit shaken

"Because if my parents had had a daughter, Kathleen is what they would have called her" he said shaken as he realised that this was the grown up version of the baby his mother had been carrying before she had died in that car crash and why his opposite in this universe wasn't around, he had died as a child. He only knew about the baby his mother had been carrying from the journal George had left him after he had died.

"Wait. Are you saying that…?" Eli asked

"This is my sister" Matt said breathless as the two siblings from different universes stared at each other

Then they were shaken from their mutual shock when they heard some sounds from outside and the door opened, Kathleen immediately cowered as terror filled her eyes only for Claire with a bag strapped over her shoulder and an energy pistol in hand to appear saying

"What are you sitting around for? Do you not know a jail break when you see one" and they all got to their feet and she handed them some energy pistols from the bag she had slung over her shoulder and then she noticed Kathleen

"Who the hell is this?" she said conscious of how little time they had before they were discovered

"Matt's sister, but what the hell were you doing giving them the robot?" Eli said angry at her

"Just going through the motions till I could get away and rescue your sorry asses; besides while I showed them were it was I didn't tell them how to use it" Claire said quickly and the three others caught on while Kathleen looked on now so confused she was completely lost as to what was going on and Eli looked guilty over doubting her "Again who the hell is this?" Claire asked indicating Kathleen

"My sister who in our universe was never born while I died in this universe" Matt told her and Claire nodded before asking her

"Why are you still here if the crew was put off ship?" and she instantly regretted the question as Kathleen's face fell and tears started to form in the corners of her eyes before she answered

"I was Telford's deputy till the Alliance came, Dannic" she said before stopping to collect herself as tears fell down her cheeks and Lisa put a comforting arm around her only for her to flinch it away "made his whore, even shared me out" and her small sniffles became sobbing as Lisa pulled her into her arms. Claire's heart wrenched as she thought about what they poor girl had gone through and quickly asked Matt

"Are you sure she wasn't born in our universe?" and he said as he took his sister in his arms who lent into his shoulder

"Yes" an annoyed Matt said as he cradled the blonde girl and Claire said

"Well we'll have to take her with us come on" and she led them out of the room hoping to get to the gate room before it was too late. Lisa Park took hold of Kathleen and led her through the corridors as Matt and Claire took point with Eli in the middle.

They got to the gate room to see a tall male on duty but Matt quickly took him down with a blast from his weapon and he told Claire and Eli

"Eli seal the doors, Claire dial the gate" while he took point guarding the door ways. Claire and Eli quickly took up their positions at the consoles and Eli was able to seal all but one of the doors but the main one behind him and Claire

"It's stuck" he said annoyed and Scott told him "Alright stick with me we do not let anyone through this door" and he nervously held up his weapon with Matt while Lisa and Kathleen stood near the stairs

"Claire" Matt said desperately and she shouted

"I'm working on it, they know we've escape and their trying to block me expect company" she warned them and she managed to gain control of the gate power system and started to channel power into the gate and started dialling the planet hoping that the storm which was quickly moving out of range would deflect them back to their ship.

Just then Lucian Alliance soldiers started coming down the corridor towards the open door, Scott immediately opened fire with a nervous Eli doing the same, Eli hadn't handled a weapon before and most of his shots missed the moving Alliance troops but Matt being a trained soldier was deadly accurate. Claire looked at the gate as it started to lock the symbols seemingly very slow

"Come on, come on" Claire urged as the second and then the third symbols were locked in, Scott shot one of the soldiers who made a run for the door down

Fourth chevron, Lisa Park left a terrified Kathleen at the console with Claire while she joined Scott and Eli in holding the door.

Fifth chevron, Lisa and Eli both shot one as he tried to dive for cover

Sixth chevron, one of Alliance troops hit Matt in the shoulder

Seventh Chevron locked and the gate finally engaged forming the great plume in the centre before settling into the puddle

"Right go come on" Claire said and grabbed Kathleen while Eli and Lisa grabbed Matt the five people ran straight at the stargate and leapt into the puddle just before the storm moved out of range.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

On the gate room of the prime _Destiny_ Young, TJ, Camille, Vanessa James and Chloe were standing around looking very worried as the countdown was nearly up and there was no sign of the missing team. Just then as they were about to give up the gate started to dial and formed a wormhole and five figures suddenly came flying out before it shut down. It only took a moment for the people who had been waiting to recognize four of the arrivals as their missing personnel. They moved to help them to their feet and Young asked Matt

"Where the hell have been lieutenant and who is this?" indicating Kathleen who had been helped to her feet by Camille and was being held at arm's length

"I'll tell you the full story later Colonel, but this is our new crewmember" Matt said as he embraced Chloe as the ship returned to FTL.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

A few hours later and after giving Kathleen some fresh clothes albeit some of the spare ancient outfits they had, Claire and Matt stood in front of Colonel Young, Camille and Rush and finished telling them what had happened

"And after we escaped we managed to reverse the process and get back here" Matt finished telling them and an amazed Young and Camille took a minute to absorb what they'd heard while Rush looked on thoughtfully

"A second Icarus planet under the apparent control of the Alliance" he said out loud and Claire nodded and told them her concerns

"Sir with the exception of a few changes that universe was nearly identical to ours, so what happened there" she started and Young finished

"Might happen here" and Camille looked alarmed at the thought while Rush merely grimaced. So Camille suggested

"We should inform Earth about the possibility of another Icarus planet. If they could capture it we could stop the Alliance from ever coming"

"And maybe get a supply line from home" Young said thinking of the relief it would be if they could receive supplies from the Milky Way. Rush however pointed out

"But we can't be sure that such a planet exists in this universe or that the SGC could manage to find it in time if it does" Rush told them grimly and Young nodded

"We should come up with some kind of defence plan for the ship if the Lucian Alliance does board the ship. Any ideas?" he asked and they all stayed silent for a moment before Young threw them a bone

"Right have a think about it and see what you can come up with by this time tomorrow"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Thank to anyone who had the patience to read this_

_Please review and tell me what you thought_


	19. Chapter 19 Sabotage

_I do not own Stargate Universe_

"__" Radio Talk_

**Chapter 19 – Sabotage**

The ship was continuing on its journey through the universe and Rush had not suffered any apparent side effects with his experiment regarding the Ancient Repository Chair. Whether he had gained anything from the experience remained to be seen and he seemed to be distracted lately but for now the current thoughts dominating the minds of the ship's crew was how they were going to defend themselves against the Lucian Alliance if they boarded the ship and the fact that the ship was leaving this galaxy for the next one and flying across the void between. With careful rationing they should be able to manage in regards to food and water till they reached the next galaxy and managed to resupply. Back in the Milky Way the SGC had begun looking for the second Icarus planet if it existed and Kiva. Meanwhile the now pressurised dome area of Destiny which was now being called the garden was flourishing with plant life, becoming one of the most visiting areas of the ship

This morning Colonel Young had called a meeting with the senior members of the expedition. So Claire, Camille, Rush, Scott, TJ whose pregnancy was now visibly apparent and Young all met in Colonel Young and TJ's quarters to discuss suggestions on the Lucian Alliance threat.

"So what have we got?" Young asked them and for a moment there was complete silence as the Colonel waited for someone to start the ball rolling. Scott was the bold one who finally found the nerve to speak

"We could set up an armed group to intercept anyone who tries to get through the gate, like those assault groups they have at the SGC when the iris is out" he suggested but Young shook his head slightly

"If their arrival is anything like ours was it will be a chaotic, the troops down there might be captured and used as hostages, but we should consider it any way" the Colonel said, he could well imagine Lucian Alliance troops coming flying through the gate much like they had done and ramming straight into the defence team.

"Maybe we could create some kind of knock out gas" Camille suggested as everyone turned to her "Flood the gate room with it and knock them out as soon as they arrive"

"We don't have anything like that" TJ said now dressed in a blue civilian shirt that was looser than her uniform but the swell of her pregnancy was clearly visible

"Could we make it?" Young asked not wanting prisoners to have to contain and feed but any plan was a good one at the moment

"With all those different chemicals we found down in the storage bays it's possible although we haven't identified half of them yet" Claire said thoughtfully "But we'd first need to create a means to filter it into the gate room through the air conditioning and to seal the doors so it doesn't leak into the ship. And we'd also have to create control override to the gate room so they couldn't deactivate it from there"

"Alright get to it; we need it done as soon as possible" Colonel Young said quickly "Anything else?" he asked and not one said anything so he said "Right then let's get to it" ending the meeting

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire assigned Inman and Fisher to make the knock out gas, their superior skills in chemistry should enable them to come up with a good enough gas to do the job while she and Brody worked on making the system changes that would deliver the gas. They had first had to fix the main gate room door which as they had found was stuck open, then they had to program the door and environment controls so it could be overridden by the Control Interface room and finally she had given Eli the job with Lisa Park of coming up with a device that could be attached to the air filter in the room to pump in the gas.

Claire also assigned the two repair robots under Rush and Volker's supervision to continue fixing the ship systems, it might take them a while but they were going to get this ship up and running properly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Camille meanwhile went to interview their new crewmember, Kathleen Scott. While she had not been confined to quarters the Colonel had said she was not to go anywhere unescorted till they were sure she was trustworthy. Camille had been appalled when Matt and Claire had told her about what had happened to the young woman in the other universe and was hoping that with some counselling she might be able to recover somewhat, but she knew that what had happened to her would probably haunt Kathleen for the rest of her life.

Camille knocked on the door and heard a quiet "Come in" so she walked in to find the young blonde dressed in some of the white ancient clothes they'd found staring out the window. She slowly turned to see who it was that had come visited her without expression

"Well hello" Camille said trying to start a conversation "I'm Camille, how are you settling in?" she asked

"I know who you are and I'm settling in fine" Kathleen said without batting an eyelash

"Well" Camille said not letting the emotionless responses put her back "I would like to interview you so that I can create a report for Homeworld Command back on Earth, if that's okay with you?"

Kathleen just shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the bed while Camille sat in the chair and began her questioning while Kathleen answered without emotion

"What's is full name?" she asked

"Kathleen April Scott"

"Your current age" Camille asked

"Twenty Four"

"Date of birth"

"2nd of July 1985"

"Rank and Division"

"2nd Lieutenant United States Air Force, F-302 fighter pilot"

Camille carefully made notes as Kathleen answered her questions allowing her to build a profile on her to send back to her superiors

"How do you feel?" Camille said trying to thrown the younger woman off by asking a random question

"I'm sorry?" Kathleen said thrown off by the question showing a hint of anxiety in her eyes

"How do you feel?" Camille repeated "You've been through a horrible experience"

"I don't see why it's any of your business" Kathleen said as anger started to creep into her tone and got up "Get out, get out now!" she demanded yelling and Camille did just that. The moment the door closed after she left Kathleen felt hot tears forming in her eyes as the misery she felt inside started to get to the surface again despite her attempts to push it away. Hearing the sobs that had started on the other side of door, Camille made a vow that she would help the young woman.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

After working for a couple of hours they were all called to the gate room by Colonel Young who had an announcement to make, Claire stood next to TJ and Vanessa while the Colonel started to speak

"Doctor Rush has just confirmed that our current FTL jump will take us between galaxies" he told them looking as tired as he felt "Which means it could be some time before we are able to make another gate connection to replenish our supplies"

He paused for a moment before continuing with an announcement that he knew was going to be unpopular "Strict food and water rationing will be reinstated as of now" and faces fell but Claire nodded knowing that they should have enough supplies to make it thanks to the larger stasis food lockers they had and then the radio called Colonel Young to the Control Interface Room. He left followed by Claire who left the depressed crowd to disperse on their own

When they arrived in the control room where a very worried looking Rush greeted them

"I've been trying to find out why the ship has been trying to conserve power and we're going to fall short" he said grimly and Claire closed her eyes as she processed what he said. Colonel Young however needed clarification

"Short of what." He asked

"Our destination, the other galaxy" Rush told him annoyed "No matter how many times I do the sums or to what degree I try to conserve power, _Destiny_ won't make it across the void"

Claire started rubbing her temples as she contemplated the problem before them

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Camille Wray, Volker and Brody were called to the Control Room so they could put their heads together and figure out how they were going to deal with this crisis of the week.

"But we just passed through a star, we should be recharged" Camille said disbelievingly as she was told the situation

Rush was pacing as he answered her "Yes we did, but like everything else on this ship, _Destiny's_ FTL drive and power reserves are nowhere near 100%"

"The database says we barely made the last three or four last galactic jumps" Brody told them

"Recent battle damage couldn't have helped" Rush added and Claire finished as she leant against the wall

"And our presence made the drain on systems worse despite whatever repairs we've managed to make"

"So if the ship knows that it's not going to make it, why is it even trying?" Camille asked

Rush told her grimly after sighing "It's programmed to follow a predetermined path. Since we haven't managed to take control of the ship, our presence is secondary to that, _Destiny_ will eventually drift the rest of the way but our bones will be dust by then" he finished before sitting back down at the main console

"So what do we do?" Young asked after listening to the scientists explain the problem but Rush said sarcastically

"Well I'm open to suggestions" Rush said

"How much would we fall short?" Brody asked and they all listened to Rush's answer

"50,000 light years give or take" and Claire did some quick maths in her head and when Brody mentioned

"That's just a few percent of the total" she came up with a couple of ideas

"Well if we sealed up the hull breaches it would decrease the strain on shields and life support and if we shut down life support to uninhabited areas we might just make it" Claire suggested "We could also look at increasing the FTL drive's efficiency"

"Work better with the same amount of power" Brody said agreeing with her ideas and Rush looked at the calculations again and said in a more hopeful tone

"Yeah five percent ought to do it actually" but Volker pointed out pessimistically

"We don't know how the engines work at all" he said "We could just make things worse"

"Claire and Brody are right" Rush said with a determination in his voice

"So I' am I the only one here who thinks we shouldn't be screwing around with Ancient drive technology unless we have a clue what we're doing?" Volker said disbelievingly at his colleagues around him

"And if we don't we die, Volker you might want to bare that in mind" Claire said silencing him "Any ideas about who we could get from Earth to help?" she asked. Both Rush and she were experts on Ancient technology but they weren't propulsion experts

"I can think of two or three people off the top of my head" Rush said

"Who's the best?" Colonel Young asked

"Amanda Perry" Rush suggested and Claire blinked in surprise at his choice. She had never met the quadriplegic genius but she had to admit she was one of the finest propulsion experts Earth had. The Colonel however who blankly at Rush for a moment before Camille explained

"She was part of the team helping to design the next generation of hyperdrives"

"I agree, I heard she was about to be put in charge of the Wormhole drive project" Claire added

"I can think of no one more qualified" Rush said. Colonel Young hearing these glowing recommendations made his decision

"Well then let's make it happen" the Colonel said "Let's make arrangements to bring her on-board"

But Rush pointed out one problem as Camille went to make the arrangements with her superiors back on Earth via a the stones

"Colonel for all her abilities, there are certain disabilities of which you should be made aware" Rush told him carefully.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Claire stayed in the control room while Rush and Young went off to go and try to find a volunteer who would be willing to stay in Perry's disabled body for potentially several weeks while Perry took over theirs on _Destiny_.

She called up the database to plot the hull breaches and calculated how long it would take with both repair robots to seal up the remaining breaches. She frowned when even with both repair bots working flat out it could take nearly a month and a half. She really didn't want for them to be stationary for that long but it could make all the difference even if the plan to fix up the engines worked.

She was working when Eli came up to join them and found out that Vanessa had volunteered to swap places with Amanda Perry but then later heard that Vanessa had had a panic attack and called it off after struggling to cope with the wheelchair bond and respirator dependant body of Doctor Perry and Camille had taken her place. She decided to leave her work for a moment before heading to the mess hall to speak with Vanessa about what had happened. She ran into TJ on the way

"Did you hear?" TJ asked her and Claire nodded so they entered the mess hall and got their daily rations before sitting down next to the depressed looking Vanessa who was sitting alone

"Hey" TJ said to get her attention and Vanessa, ashamed of herself after what had had happened wouldn't meet their gazes

"I couldn't do it" Vanessa said miserably

"Yeah we know we heard" Claire said "Don't worry about it" she said taking Vanessa's hand and squeezing it slightly to show support and TJ added

"It's okay" but Vanessa felt worse and pulled her hand free of Claire's

"No it isn't. I let him down" she told them TJ guessed who she was talking about

"The Colonel, hey listen he's the last person to…" TJ started to say but stopped when she saw Rush escorting Amanda Perry in Camille's body on a tour of ship and Vanessa unable to look Amanda Perry in the eye got up and left. Claire and TJ thought about going after her but decided it was best to leave her alone. Claire got up after finishing her rations to join the rest of the scientists in the gate room but Amanda stopped her before she left

"I recognize you you're Claire Williams" she said looking genuinely happy and Claire taken aback said

"Yes, it's good to meet you too Doctor Perry" and they shook hands before Amanda noticed what TJ was eating

"What it that?" she asked Rush who said surprised

"It's a kind of fruit we found" and Amanda looked intently at the plate

"May I try one?" she asked and Rush nodded before waving Becker over who grabbed a plate of the alien fruits

Rush said to her "I'll warn you, most people find these rather bitter" but this didn't hold Perry back as she took the plate from Becker and took a bite taking a moment to savour the taste before Becker joked

"Most people spit them right back out" but Perry loved the bitter tasting fruit remarking

"This is the first real food I've been able to able to feed myself since I was nine" she told them in joy of the experience but they were interrupted by a radio call

"_TJ this is Young have you seen Doctor Rush?"_ the Colonel asked _"He turned his damn radio off"_

"I think I've gotten you in trouble" Amanda remarked but Rush waved it off as he, Amanda and Claire made their way to the Control room

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

After looking at the readings, Amanda agreed with Rush and Claire's assessment

"Five or six percent would do it" she told them

"The question is can we make that much of an improvement without control of the ship's core systems" Claire stated

"Or for that matter how they work in the first place" Volker said

"Show her everything you've got" Young ordered Brody who went off to carry out the request when an explosion rocked the ship sending them all flying from their feet and against the walls or just across their rooms. Claire flew straight against the bulkhead and quickly got to her feet to get to the console to see what the hell had just happened

"We've dropped out of FTL" she reported as they all got back to their feet and then Claire reported the most disturbing thing "One of the FTL Drive units just exploded, its shorted out the whole system"

"Can we repair it?" Young asked her and Claire slowly nodded

"Yes but it'll take a while and…" she started but faltered

"And what?" Brody asked as they all looked at her

"I don't think that it was an accident and the explosion originated from within the ship. There's no sign of any alien ships and despite the strain being put on them, there had been no indication that it was about to explode" she told them, definitely worried now

"We're adrift" Rush reported

"Can we access the engineering spaces?" Amanda asked but Brody shook his head

"Not without a spacesuit, a lot of the ship's unpressurised"

"Best to check the damage from outside the ship" Rush suggested

"I can fly a Kino pretty well" Volker said and Colonel Young ordered him to get to it before going off to report to Earth what had just happened while Claire and Brody went off to do what they could to help the crew

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire went to the infirmary where she saw TJ and Chloe working hard to manage the number of injuries when she heard TJ questioning Vanessa

"So what do you remember?" TJ asked as Claire came over

"I was walking then I was somewhere else and I don't know how I got there" Vanessa told them "Then the explosion happened"

"Has this happened before?" Claire asked and Vanessa shook her head before they heard Lisa Park coming down the corridor yelling for TJ as Greer and another soldier carried Franklin who had so far been comatose and put him on a free bed before Vanessa noticed his eyes moving and said

"Franklin" and his eyes met hers

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire left the more alert Franklin with TJ while she went to Colonel Young who had assigned Eli to help Perry and Rush with their work. The Colonel assigned her the job of using the repair robots to seal up more hull breaches so they wouldn't waste so much shield power when they got back into FTL. While she was sealing compartments, Scott would lead some teams with Greer to explore them hoping that they might find something useful. But better yet the Colonel had finally allowed Kathleen free access to the ship since he agreed she probably wasn't a threat.

Chloe was getting some rations one day when she saw Kathleen sitting alone, curious about the sister of her boyfriend. She went up to Kathleen and asked

"Is this seat taken?" Kathleen looked up and shook her head, clearing Chloe to sit down next to her

"I'm Chloe" she said introducing herself and Kathleen shook her head

"What is with people treating me like I've never met them before, I was on a mirror image of this ship" Kathleen annoyed and Chloe was a bit taken aback by her attitude but didn't let it get to her

"But we've never met you before" Chloe said and Kathleen gave her a thoughtful look

"True" she conceded "I'm Kathleen, but I prefer Kathy"

"Well Kathy" Chloe said feeling a bit more confident now "How are you fitting in?" she asked and instantly regretted it from the tightening of Kathy's features but Kathy answered her all the same

"It's weird, I know the faces but they aren't the same people, it's weirder when I look at Matt I mean he and I am brother and sister yet were complete strangers"

Chloe nodded and asked a question that she knew she shouldn't but couldn't help herself "Did you know me?" and a slight smile appeared on Kathy's features as her features relaxed and she answered

"Yes you were on the other _Destiny_. We're friends" Kathy told her and they two started to talk as Kathy in her mind re-established her old friendship and Chloe made one with a woman who might well be her future sister in law

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire meanwhile was concentrating on her task, using the repair robots to seal up hull breaches. SAs she sealed each section, the team led by Matthew Scott would move in, check it out and then move onto the next. So far they had discovered a lot of crew quarters, a backup Control interface room, some more storage areas one or two of which were filled with cargo boxes that had to be checked through and a strange room that had been found just this morning

"So what the hell is it?" Young asked as they checked around the room. It was a long hallway with alcoves along the walls that had a sort of glass door to close them off. Claire had told him, Scott and Greer not to stand in them till she had managed to access the room's console and discovered what the room was for.

"According the display this is the suspension room" Claire told him translating the name very literally "As in suspended animation"

"Stasis" Young remarked as he remembered hearing about such chambers on Atlantis

"An earlier version of the Ancient Stasis chambers, capable of slowing the aging of anyone to a near standstill" Claire told him "So unless you want to go to sleep and wake up in the next century I would advise you not to stand in them" she said with a smirk as Scott who had poked his head into one only to pull away very quickly at her words

"They could at least let you lay down, instead of standing all that time" Greer remarked as he looked at one of the booths

"Once you're suspended, your feet wouldn't get tired" Claire told him "You'd just step in, someone outside would close it and then the time you spend frozen would be like the blink of an eye when you get out"

"If we can't fix the ship, could we use these to get us to the next galaxy?" Young asked and Claire frowned for a moment before saying

"As a last resort yes, it could take decades for the ship to reach it and while we might not age in that time if the wake up system fails then we might be frozen for centuries perhaps longer" and he sighed before telling them

"Alright we'll leave this option till last" he said and turned to ask Claire another question "How are the hull repairs going?"

"Pretty good, so far we've managed to patch up a third of the hull breaches but it's going to slow down once they take one of the bots to fix up the remaining propulsion units" Claire told him as Rush, Perry and Eli were planning to use one of the repair bots to not only repair the existing drive units but improve them so they could manage the crossing. It was going to be a long job given how complex the drive units were and the fact that they were doing improvements on top of improvements

"Right, you keep it going, if that one percent we save gets us to the next galaxy then it's worth it" he told them before walking off to carry on his own duties while leaving them to theirs.

"You two up to checking out those boxes in those storage rooms we found?" Claire asked them after the Colonel left, they'd powered down the robots for the day and hand nothing better to do

"Sure" Matt said and Greer just shrugged so the three of them went off to check it out

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

"Another box of funky looking knives and forks" Greer told them as they looked through the boxes

"Is there nothing interesting in any of these boxes?" Matt said exasperated as his box turned out to be empty

"Depends on your definition of interesting Lieutenant" Claire said as she shifted through the pile of seed pods in hers

"I don't know something useful" Matt said as he put the lid back on his box and Greer did the same. Greer went to open another one and when lifted off the lid and peered inside before saying

"Guys I think I found something interesting" as he looked into the box, Matt and Claire came over to see what he's found and Claire smiled when she saw the unmistakable shape of a repair robot. She took a close up look at it

"It's damaged" she told them but added "But with one of the other repair bots I should be able to get this one working soon enough"

"Why would the Ancients have shattered them all over the place?" Matt asked, rather than set an area aside for them the Ancients had put them all over the ship

"Perhaps so that if something happened and one of them was lost then the rest would be safe" Claire said shrugging "So gentlemen shall we get this back to workshop?" she asked with a smile.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

The three of them struggled with the very heavy box dragging it all the way through the corridors so they could get to the lift, their ears being grated with the horrible sound that the heavy box made as it was being pushed and pulled along. Finally they made it to an elevator where they pushed it inside and Claire being the smallest of the three got into the cramped lift to ride it back to the main areas of the ship while the two men would take another lift. To fit inside the cramped space, Claire had to sit on top of the crate and could only get off of it when she reached the main area and hopefully enlist help or have to wait for Matt and Greer to get there

When she arrived she gracefully slid off the box and out the door only to find no-one there. She reached for her radio and called out

"Is there anyone around the elevator near the garden? I need some help please?" she asked and there was no answer at first but then Chloe called in

"Hold on Claire, me and Kathy are in the garden were on our way" and Claire silently thanked god before answering

"Thanks Chloe out" and Claire waited for Chloe and 'Kathy' to arrive. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Chloe had meant their newest crewmember Kathleen Scott. Claire hadn't really had much contact with the blonde since she'd come on-board from the other universe.

Soon the aforementioned young women arrived, Claire took note of the immediate improvement in Kathy as she looked less terrified and finally putting a little weight on or as much as their rations allowed.

"Hey girls, could you help me move this thing to the workshop?" Claire asked and with hesitation the three girls began dragging the heavy box through the corridors

"So how's everything going?" Claire asked as they moved the crate along and Chloe answered her

"Okay thanks, TJ's teaching me how to do emergency surgery tomorrow" and they stopped for a minute to get their breath back

"Really maybe you should think of a career in medicine" Kathy suggested and Chloe smiled for a moment before saying

"Perhaps" and then Amanda Perry and Rush came down the corridor, Amanda said

"Hello there, what's this?" and Rush looked on a little annoyed at someone interrupting his time with 'Little Miss Brilliant' as he called Amanda. Claire noticed the look and wondered about the nature of their relationship but kept her suspicions to herself when she answered

"We found another one of the repair robots, were just moving it to the workshop so we can get it fixed and put it to work" and Amanda looked like a little kid on Christmas morning opening presents

"Can I have a look?" she asked eagerly and Claire a little bemused indulged her

"Sure" and she removed the lid so Amanda could look inside, Amanda peered in and looked at the large robot and put out her hand to touch the surface, moving her figures over the cold metal as delicately as if it were fragile glass.

"How long before its working?" Amanda asked as she felt one of its mechanical legs

"A day or so maybe if we get one of the other bots to fix it up" Claire told her the others looked on as Amanda looked on at the machine and when she was done

"Well you'd better get on with it" Amanda said as she turned to Rush "You promised me a look at this garden of yours" she told him and he smiled before offering her his hand

"Well shall we?" he asked her and she took his hand before walking off, leaving Claire, Chloe and Kathy near opened mouthed at the display

"Well they seem to be getting on" Chloe remarked

"Yes they do" Claire said before sighing "Well we should probably get this to the workshop" and with a great deal of grunting the three women continued to push the heavy box towards the workshop. They finally arrived at the workshop after ten minutes of heavy duty labour were Claire bid Chloe and Kathy goodbye as Claire went over to one of the inactivate Repair robots and used the nearby console to boot it up and ordered it to start repairing its damaged brother.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kathy and Chloe were going to go to meet up with Eli and Matt when Colonel Young met them in the corridor

"Colonel" Kathy said surprised before jumping into a salute as her military discipline kicked in but the Colonel just shook his head before saying

"At ease Lieutenant" he said calling her by her rank given that this was business "I hope your settling in well?" he asked.

Kathy felt the probing gaze of the Colonel and struggled not to look away; she couldn't help but compare him to the Colonel Telford from her universe. From the short time she'd spent here, she could see that Young was a strong minded but fair man who took most of burden on his shoulders so someone else wouldn't have too. Telford however had been indecisive as a leader in her universe, taking sometimes too long to make a decision or generally making the wrong one, especially when the Alliance had boarded the ship although she struggled to push that memory away. Young was a man she could quite easily come to respect as he could quite frankly earned that respect.

"Just fine sir" she said relaxing her posture a bit while the Colonel judged her answer

"Good, now I understand you're a trained pilot. Is that correct?" he asked and she nodded

"Yes sir"

"Good, then I want you to fly the shuttle to drop off the repair robot at the engineering sections of the ship, Matthew Scott will accompany you" he told her "You'll have to wear EV suits while flying is that going to be a problem?" he asked

Kathy was nearly shocked at this; she had never expected the Colonel to trust her so quickly and answered

"No sir" she said and he gave her a smile

"Good, then get suited up and report to the shuttle, your brother is waiting there" he said before saying "Hey" to Chloe who nodded and told her with a smile when Kathy turned to her

"Go on then" and saying thank you with one of the few smiles she'd smiled since coming on-board, Kathy raced off to get suited up

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Getting into the suit was no new experience for Kathy who had worn a nearly identical suit back on her own _Destiny_ and she made her way to the shuttle were her brother was already waited, suited up ready to go.

"You ready for this?" Matt asked and Kathy who now knew that she could finally do something that came as naturally to her as breathing, flying. As long as she could remember she had always wanted to fly, watching birds in the sky as soared over head as a little girl to flight training in the Air Force Academy, earning her wings and flying F-22s before the SGC had recruited her to join the fighter squadrons stationed at Icarus Base and where she had flown F-302's in space and loving every minute of it.

"You bet I'm ready" she told him with a big smile that seemed to light up her entire face and put on her helmet while Matthew did the same and sat in the Co-pilot's position while she sat down in the pilot's seat. They waited for the repair robot to arrive before taking off with the back door open.

Kathy felt the trill she got from doing what she did best run up her body as she guided the shuttle gently but expertly along _Destiny's_ hull. Matt could only look on as his sister from another reality flew the shuttle better than he ever could. He felt a stab of jealousy at her piloting skills but he squashed that immediately as she with expert precision moved the shuttle over the drop zone to allow the robot to disembark before taking the shuttle back and along the way, daring to do a few manoeuvres with the shuttle, coaxing it to do some barrel rolls and even a loop-de-loop before gently putting the shuttle back in its pad leaving her brother amazed at her ability

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As the weeks wore on the crew started to become increasingly bored as the ship stayed where it was, Brody was trying to make moonshine from a still that he had made himself, Rush and Amanda were still enjoying each other's company, Becker had managed to set up a basic barber shop with some of the Ancient tools they'd found, Vanessa had taken over the daily care that Franklin required as despite being more aware he remained largely catatonic and much to Kathy's own joy Young had made her the official shuttle pilot freeing up Matt so he could lead missions through the gate or take over from Young if it was required. TJ had also been teaching Chloe about how to deliver a baby for when the time came as TJ was now well into her pregnancy and would need Chloe when her due date came.

Claire had been using the other two repair robots to try and repair as many hull breaches as possible, she had managed to fix up to a third more of the breaches by the time of their third week adrift and had set up a schedule for those areas to be explored. She also been putting the finishing touches on the gas system for the gate room in case the ship was boarded and had just finished her new program, which when activated put the drive units of _Destiny_ into a diagnostic mode which if needed could give them an extra hour before jumping to FTL and had managed to write in an over-ride to deactivate it once it wasn't needed. Colonel Young had immediately had her prepare the program for use and congratulated her.

Claire, Vanessa and Chloe as well as Kathy all went to see Brody's completed still an were on hand to taste his first 'safe' batch of moonshine

"Cheers" they told each other before taking it all down in one go and immediately they all gagged at the strength of the freshly homemade whisky as it went straight to their heads causing them to sway a bit

"So?" Brody asked

"Strong stuff" Kathy said in strange voice as the moonshine left a burning sensation in her throat

"We could use that as a disinfectant" Chloe remarked

"Good though" Vanessa said nodding holding her glass up for a refill which Brody granted.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Finally after being stuck for just over three weeks, Amanda and Rush managed to make progress and would soon be finished with their working repairing and upgrading the FTL Drive. The crew was feeling a little more cheerful since they should hopefully be back on the road soon as get out of the void. But Young called Claire, TJ, Eli, Rush and Amanda to his quarters with some disturbing news, what surprised them was that Vanessa was there

"Lieutenant James left the comm room without wiping her imprint off the stone" he told them "It got knocked off the table and no-one noticed. We think that in that opportunity, an alien might have taken advantage, used the stones and sabotaged our FTL Drive"

"She told me she blacked out around the time of the explosion" TJ added "I thought it was post-concussion syndrome"

Claire sighed before speaking "Well that explains why there was no sign of an overload before it happened"

"Well mystery solved" Rush said "I don't see how it changes anything"

"What part don't you get" Eli asked sarcastically

"If they were able to access the ship's computers while in Vanessa's body they might have managed to get at least a bearing on our position" Claire said "No matter how big the void is, we're probably the only thing out here and with at least a partial bearing that would be enough to get them started" she hated being the negative one here but she needed to at least warn them of the possibility

"They're coming" Young said solemnly as they all became nervous at the prospect of another battle with their blue enemies

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The Colonel ordered them all to start preparing for battle, Claire recalled the repair robots she had fixing the hull and started using them to try and fix some internal conduits instead while Rush worked with Eli on getting the weapons and shields ready. In his quarters, the Colonel began writing letters for everyone as he prepared to sit in the chair to hopefully figure out how to access the core systems and get the ship back into FTL but before he did he addressed the entire crew

"This is Young" he began as the entire crew stopped whatever it was they were doing and listened to his voice "While repairs to the ship are still days away from being complete, despite our best efforts we believe an attack will happen at any moment. Shields will not withstand a prolonged bombardment and this time we will not be able to jump to FTL, neither can we escape through the stargate" he said in his gravelly tone as the crew armed themselves in case the ship was boarded

"Lieutenant Matthew Scott will be in charge of our ship's defences, follow his orders as you would my own" he told them "If boarded Sergeant Greer will co-ordinate the strike teams but everyone will join in our defence we'll give them a good fight" he concluded before ending the address and walking over to Amanda

"When the time comes don't wait too long" he told her and she reluctantly nodded before he turned to Rush who told her

"It'll be okay" before leaving to help Young with the Chair

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile in Franklin's quarters Vanessa was still taking care of Franklin, feeding him as she had been doing for weeks and she felt terrible

"This is all my fault, I panicked" she told Franklin who sat there just staring but then his hand started to tremble and it managed to grasp her wrist causing her to look him in the eyes as he managed to tell the shocked marine in a strained voice

"The chair…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Outside the ship which was still floating in the void, two alien mother ships dropped out of their FTL near Destiny and began to approach. In the Control Room, Eli told the Colonel that they had arrived while he, Claire and Amanda activated the ship's external defences and prepared for battle

"Don't forget to breathe" Claire told a very nervous Amanda who nodded as she manned her station

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

In the Chair room, Young asked Rush handing him his radio

"Tell me what to do" and Rush told him

"We've managed to isolate the damaged module from the rest; you have to command the ship to enter FTL on the remaining drives" and a still unclear Young asked Rush

"How the hell do I do that?" but Rush didn't know himself suggested

"Well first you have to sit in the chair" but before the Colonel could do that Vanessa came running into the room and told them about Franklin

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

The alien ships came into firing range and began their assault, in the Control room of _Destiny_, Claire told her co-workers while Scott gave them their orders

"Open fire" and they started to counter attack with their own weapons, their smaller batteries started trying to pick off the small fighter craft that streaked their way around Destiny like a pack of wolves taking on a bear while the big small hung back to let their smaller craft do the work.

Explosions rocked the ship as the shields were hit again and again by enemy fire; the batteries of _Destiny_ were managing to pick off some of the fighters but most of them slipped through the defensive fire and struck the shield.

Meanwhile as Franklin now sat in the chair he told Rush and Young to go as the temperature dropped in the Control room with great hesitation the two other men left as Franklin via the chair closed the door and the room filled with mist

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Then in the Control Room, Eli noticed from his console

"Something's happening" he told them and he came over to Amanda's console to check while Claire noticed something strange too on her console

Then just as Colonel Young and Doctor Rush walked into the room surprising them all Amanda noticed

"The FTL drive is powering up" and the countdown clock on the wall suddenly started at ten seconds which quickly flew by and the ship leapt back into FTL on its way to the new galaxy, destroying four alien fighters that were too close to the ship when it jumped.

The crew breathed a mutual sigh of relief as smiles appeared on their faces as at least for now at least they were safe again.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_This has got to be the longest chapter I have ever written but worth it I hope_

_Please let me know what you think_


	20. Chapter 20 Mirrior Images

_I do not own Stargate Universe_

_Warning Bad language _

**Chapter 20 – Mirror Images**

The ship had finally arrived in its new galaxy and the Colonel had called off the searches for Franklin, who had vanished from the Chair room after he had sat back in the chair to save them from the blue aliens despite the only door in and out of the room being sealed and under guard at the time. Amanda Perry had returned to Earth so Camille was back with them again. And there was news for Kathy, providing she attended counselling arranged by Homeworld security for her experiences which she wasn't too happy about, they had commissioned her as a full 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

Their arrival however had not been a nice one, the first planet they visited had had some weird alien ticks that had attached themselves to members of the crew and made them hallucinate. Claire had had to spend some time with Vanessa as the female marine had thought she'd killed Matt but although it had been a hallucination she still felt the guilt for a while. But the crew had managed to raise their spirits when Claire and Chloe had planned a birthday party for Vanessa, using music they'd made on their laptops and relaxing food restrictions a bit. Claire had even managed to get Vanessa a gift by taking a set of the Ancient clothes they'd found and mixing some dyes up from the chemicals in storage, so Vanessa had a new black leather jacket with matching trousers and boots, a red leather t-shirt and even some black underwear.

Claire had meanwhile started a new project; she'd managed to close a blast door over the dome garden area to protect and started up two other hydroponics gardens so that they could increase food production and lessen the strain on life support somewhat. She'd also been busy trying to use the repair robots to repair interior systems a bit.

The ship had just dialled another planet and Vanessa was leading a team down to do some exploration.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

2nd Lieutenant Vanessa James was quite frankly bored, whenever the Colonel gave her off-world duties they fell into one of two categories; firstly she was supporting Matthew Scott when he was leading the team or secondly a low priority trip to a lifeless and barren rock where nothing could possibly happen. Matt was the senior officer she understood that, but with TJ confined to the infirmary as Chief medical officer she was the third highest officer on the ship and a member of the Special Forces. She'd served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and had several citations and been decorated for bravery under fire and exemplary service. It was one of the reasons why the SGC had picked her to join its ranks.

Yet the Colonel wouldn't trust her with any mission that might actually allow her to demonstrate or utilise her abilities. It drove her nuts, Claire and TJ had told her to speak to the Colonel about it. But she was a marine, and whatever job she was given, she'd do it and do it to the best of her ability.

She surveyed the rocky terrain around her and it actually reminded her of the mountains she'd seen in Iraq back on Earth. If it hadn't been the fact of them being so dangerous of being left behind she might have like to do some rock climbing here. As it was she had just taken a short walk around the rock formations a short distance from the gate.

The team she'd been assigned was just picking around the gate taking rock samples and some of the very few plants that lived here. Suddenly there was a rumbling in the distance, Vanessa looked for the source of the noise and saw over the mountains in the east a great dark cloud coming over the mountains like a tidal wave. Not wasting anytime she grabbed her radio and called Corporal Barnes

"Barnes, this is James, dial the gate" she said quickly and began running towards it as the storm moved closer and closer at an alarming speed.

"Yes sir" Barnes replied and Vanessa could see the gate dialling as she got closer, it seemed to be doing it along slower than it should.

Vanessa looked over her shoulder and saw the storm was getting really close now, she could see swirls of purple, green, blue and red inside its dark depths and what appeared to be lightning flashing around it.

She turned around again to see the gate finally dial _Destiny_ and the great plume erupt from the centre of the ring, the team wasted no time and proceeded to return to the safety of the ship by walking through, Vanessa was only feet away now but as she leapt through, a tendril of the strange storm engulfed her before the momentum carried her out of it and through the wormhole.

In _Destiny's_ gate room the team turned around to see Vanessa come flying through the gate and slide across the floor before coming to a stop. They rushed over to see if she was okay, only to back away in horror when they saw her body glowing with a strange gold and silver hue.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

With some hesitation, the team had moved Vanessa to the infirmary where TJ made her diagnosis while Rush and Claire tried to find out why she was glowing. Barnes was explaining to Colonel Young, Rush and Claire what had happened while TJ and Chloe did their work

"Sir the storm came out of nowhere, I've never seen a storm move that fast" she told them and TJ then came over to tell them the news

"Well she appears to be in some kind of coma, other than that I have no idea what's wrong" TJ told them and drew their attention to something she'd discovered while scanning Vanessa with the healing bed

"And her brain activity is off the charts, not what I'd normally see in a coma patient" TJ said indicating the display which showed the mass of activity that was going on inside Vanessa's brain, far more than that of a normal human

"So what's her prognosis?" Young asked TJ

"Honestly I have no idea if she'll ever wake up again" TJ told him regretfully and Claire looked hopelessly over at Vanessa who was still glowing and contemplated the outcome of Vanessa, one of her best friends never waking up

"So you two got any ideas?" Young asked not letting his own worries for the Vanessa get in the way

"Well according to the instruments the storm is similar to the one that disrupted gate travel and sent me, Matt, Park and Eli to the alternate _Destiny_" Claire told him

"Yes its some kind of rift in the fabric of space/time" Rush added and Claire looked over again and Vanessa, praying silently that she was going to be okay

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_Vanessa was just drifting in an endless blue abyss, her eyes were closed but somehow she could see all around her, she had tried to open her eyes and move her limbs but they failed to respond._

_Suddenly she felt a great shock, like her body was suddenly put in contact with a live wire before a rush of feelings; sensations and memories came screaming into her head _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_Vanessa suddenly bolted awake when the alarm sounded, she looked around to see it was half eight in the morning and she cursed before leaping out of bed after seeing that she was going to be late to work. _

_She rushed to her bathroom where she took a very rushed shower and brushed her teeth before throwing on a clean pair of jeans and a shirt and putting on her shoes and grabbing her bag and rushing out to her car which lay parked in the drive ay of her house. _

_She unlocked it and started it up before pulling out and speeding as fast as she dared. Taking the freeway she managed to make up for lost time and get into the parking lot of Cameron Airspace just in time, before running into the main entrance and calling down the lift before stumbling in as the heel on her shoe broke and she nearly fell flat on her face, thanking god that no-one had seen. _

_She reached the testing labs where she saw her male colleagues sitting around a table eating Chinese, laughing and joking at something; she smiled and walked up saying _

"_Hi guys" trying to be friendly but they looked up and said dismissively causing the smile on her face to vanish_

"_Do you mind James, we're talking here" and embarrassed Vanessa said _

"_Sure, sorry" before hurrying away to her office and sitting down to start work on the new aerodynamic frame designs she'd been working on feeling much better now that she was doing something that she loved. The door to her office was left ajar and the voices of her colleagues carried inside, she stopped working when the first words reached her ears_

"_Geez James has got to be the most annoying bitch I've met, sure she's got that great body but she bores you to death talking about mathematics and physics. She's genius and great looking but she might as well be a nun" one of the men said making Vanessa's eyes widen in shock as the impact of what he was saying hit her _

"_I hear you man, that rack has probably had less sightings than Bigfoot" one of the other men joked and Vanessa's fist tensed and shook in anger_

"_Maybe that's what she needs to get her going, a good lay" one of them joked and they all laughed and Vanessa's temper finally exploded. She walked out of her office and faced the men who had been speaking about her like that and screamed at them_

"_YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! NEED TO GET FILTHY HANDS OUT OF YOUR FRICKING PANTS. YOU MOTHER FUCKERS" and before storming out of the labs, she picked up the bag that still contained most of their food and tipped it over on the floor. She would have liked to bash their heads in with a chair but she didn't want to waste her live in prison because of those bastards. _

_She stormed past the receptionist who called after her but Vanessa was so mad that she didn't even notice her. She got into her car and drove home at breakneck speed. It was miracle that she wasn't pulled over by the cops. She barely stopped to get her keys out and open the door before slamming it closed behind her and going into her sitting room and collapsing on the sofa and bursting into tears _

_Was that how everyone saw her in work, some boring and unresponsive bitch that needed to get laid? She'd never been able to make friends there and even outside a boyfriend was dream she had only imagined. She was broken from her sobbing by the sound of the mail arriving, slowly she got up and walked back to her front door and looked through the small pile of envelopes mostly bills or junk mail but then she saw an letter post marked Colorado Springs. She opened it and read the first line_

"_Dear Miss Vanessa James, I am writing to extend an invitation to the United States Air Force Base at Cheyenne Mountain to join a special project…"_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Then Vanessa suddenly found herself back in the blue void again, 'what the hell was that' she thought frantically, it had been almost like a dream but more real, she could smell, taste and feel like she was awake. The she felt the feeling coming again, swallowing her up _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_2__nd__ Lieutenant Vanessa James was scared but resolute, she had to do this. She looked quietly down the corridor of Destiny and checked that the coast was clear before she and the military and personnel that had joined her made their way quietly into the armoury and proceeded to gear up_

"_Do we have to do this? There has to be a better way" Riley asked her and the others looked to her, hoping for her to reassure them or agree with him, Vanessa didn't know which was more hoped for. But she stared back at him and told him bluntly _

"_So what should we do instead? Allow that bastard to sacrifice more of us? You want to die so that bastard can continue with this mission of his go ahead but I for one am not going to stand for it anymore" and the people around her nodded, agreeing with her even Riley. _

'_If Colonel Young had lived' Vanessa thought 'This wouldn't have happened.' The Colonel had died from his injuries on Icarus base and the IOA had put Rush in charge. The scientist had been a bad leader, early everyone had suffered under his harsh rule but under threat of having contact cut off with Earth and their families the crew obeyed his orders, but in the last battle with the blue aliens Rush had shut down life support to most decks and killed a third of the crew to get the ship away. _

_Matt had been one of those killed, along with Greer, Chloe and Camille. After that Vanessa could stand it no longer and decided to act, she'd gathered as many other members of the crew as she'd dared and planned a mutiny. _

"_Right you know your jobs, make it fast and don't give them time to organise" Vanessa ordered and the mutineers went off to secure their assigned areas while she went after her target_

_Doctor Nicolas Rush_

_She moved to his quarters and waited for the others to signal that they were ready, when they all sent the signal to tell her that they were in position she gave the word _

"_Operation is a go, go!" she told them and quickly went to the door of Rush's room and pushed the door release to see the man look up from his desk and eye the weapon in her hand as she aimed it at him_

"_Lieutenant James, you should aim that weapon elsewhere" he said with an edge in his voice _

"_As I speak, we're taking over key areas of the ship. Within moments, we'll have control of the control room, infirmary, research lab and the rest" Vanessa told him and aimed the weapon straight at Rush's head but the man gave no indication of fear_

"_Oh and should I surrender too, get down on my hands and knees and beg?" Rush said scornfully but Vanessa just said sternly _

"_No you die" and before he could properly register what she'd said, she fired her pistol and put a bullet straight between Rush's eyes. The man fell dead straight away and for a moment Vanessa did nothing before she reached for her radio and called out_

"_All teams report in" and they confirmed that they'd managed to seize control of the rest of the ship_

_She was commander of Destiny now and swore to herself to do a better job than Rush ever had_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_And again Vanessa felt herself return to the void, still trying to understand what was going on but she had only a moment to think before yet again she was enveloped by the bombardment of feelings, thoughts and memories again_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_Professor Vanessa James sat in the small café by the Trevi Fountain in the glorious city of Rome in the warm Italian sun, as always marvelling at the great statues that made it up and loving every minute of her time here. Taking a job as a teacher of languages here in the University of Rome was one of the best decisions she'd ever made. _

_She could speak; Latin, Ancient Egyptian, French, German, Japanese, Chinese and to many others to name. The university had head hunted her and for the generous salary they offered she'd jumped at the chance. _

_But the University was not on her mind today. She watched as a man discreetly dropped a suitcase right next to her table, waiting a few seconds she got up and carried the case off to her apartment. She used the combination that she'd been given and opened it to find a file and dissembled sniper rifle. She ignored the rifle for now and picked up the file, identifying the target, a man in Palermo called Sebastian Flores, a drug lord who rivals wanted him dead, one of which had promised her two hundred thousand dollars for the hit to happen within the next twenty four hours, she memorized the details regarding his residence and patterns. She picked up the rifle and arranged under one of her alias to fly to Palermo tonight, and then fly back to Rome a few hours later once the job was done. _

_She flew out less than an hour later and arrived at the location she'd picked. Everyday Sebastian made a visit to a strip club he managed so she set herself up on the roof of a building with a clear view of the strip club front entrance a few hundred feet away, assembled her rifle and waited for the right moment. _

_After three hours the man in question arrived, she loaded the rifle took careful aim, adjusted for the wind and the moment the shot was clear, pulled the trigger. The rifle let out only a small sound as the bullet left its barrel and flew straight at the target that didn't have a chance as the projectile splattered his brains all over the path. _

_Without hesitating she dismantled the rifle put it back in the case and carried it away in the case that helped her smuggle it around undetected. On the plane later she checked and already the money had been deposited in her off-shore account_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Now in a complete daze, Vanessa could only hope that the thing whatever it was over. But no such luck as yet again the sensations returned_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_She was up at six, waking in the arms of her husband Josh who pulled her right back in when she tried to get up so that she could start working on the farm the owned. Josh kissed her gently on the lips before his body shifted lower and kissed her slightly swollen stomach and said gently _

"_How are my two favourite girls doing this morning?" he said and Vanessa smiled before saying back_

"_We are doing fine, now we need to get up" she told him regretfully and he laughed before saying _

"_Mummy's no fun is she baby" and Vanessa laughed too and pulled him into a loving kiss._

_They got p and while Josh attended to all the early morning tasks that you needed to do living on a farm, Vanessa prepared breakfast just in time for two very loud and happy-go lucky boys to come hurtling down the stairs. _

"_Morning mum" they said sitting down as she put their breakfast out_

"_Morning sweethearts" she told her two six year old sons before setting Josh's breakfast out for when he was finished and got her own "Now are you ready to go see granny and grandpa today?" she asked and braced herself for the answer_

"_YES, MUMMY YES" they cried out and rushed over to give her a hug which she returned just as warmly _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_She found herself back in the void for only a moment before slipping into the next reality, a much harsher one then the last few_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_The sands of the desert were scorching, but Vanessa was used to the heat and she served her gods Apophis and Amaunet with all of her being. The failed revolt during the time of Ra had not forced the gods off of this planet, but had weakened Ra enough so that Apophis had overthrown him and taken his holdings. Vanessa had become the servant to Amaunet when she was just a child and had earned her goddess's favour with her loyal and devoted service. _

_She was on her way to her own room which was a gift from Amaunet when the ground shook beneath her, sending her sprawling to the floor. She turned around to see smoke coming from her Mistress's room. She quickly got to her feet and rushed back to see if Amaunet was alright. _

_When she arrived she saw the blacked room and a burned looking body on the far side of the room that was barely moving. Its eyes flashed and Vanessa realised that this was the body of her mistress. She rushed forward to help Amaunet when Apophis and his guards led by the Frist Prime Teal'c. Vanessa like Teal'c he was kind belaying his tough warrior image. Apophis raced forward and took Amaunet's burned body in his arms snarling_

"_Tok'ra" and before he carried Amaunet off she whispered something in his ear and he nodded and turned to his Jaffa and ordered them to hold Vanessa down while he exposed the back of her neck_

"_My lord" Vanessa said frightened no knowing what was going on and she looked up to see Teal'c looking her in eyes with pity, saying silently_

"_I'm sorry" _

_Then the burnt body of Amaunet was placed near her exposed back and suddenly although she couldn't see, Vanessa heard a nasty sounding screech and then felt something slithering up her back before without warning a horrible piercing pain started in her upper back and Vanessa screamed _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_The blue void returned as Vanessa felt the pain the other Vanessa had just experienced ended. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was seeing lives she might have lived if things had been different. The last one had been horrible, she now knew the pain Goa'uld hosts experienced and thanked her stars that they had been defeated back home. She braced herself, this time feeling the next vision _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Vanessa James was moving through the jungle with a small man squad behind her. Since the ZPM-powered Wraith Hive ship had managed to successfully defeat Earth the peace in the Milky Way had evaporated as the Wraith spread like wild fire, bringing in more of their own kind from the Pegasus galaxy. Atlantis was gone; most of Earth's ships and bases were destroyed too as the Wraith made their presence felt. Vanessa was leading a covert strike group operating out of a nomadic group of Earth survivors hoping to resist the Wraith. _

_The foliage of the jungle was think and humid and she and her men were sweating buckets but they were hoping to retrieve some weapons as this planet had once been a base for the Jaffa Nation before it had collapsed. Suddenly they heard a noise to their right and she motioned for them to move into formation as they checked it out. They crept to the edge of the clearing to see a few Wraith drones standing there. Vanessa made the signal for her guys to back off and leave it not wanting to alert them to her team's presence._

_But one man, Sergeant Peterson disobeyed eager to kill some Wraith he opened fire and managed to kill two of them before the whipped around and started firing their stunners. Cursing Vanessa ordered her men to kill the other Wraith before they raised the alarm. They took them down quickly before suddenly more stunners started coming from behind them. Vanessa whipped around to see nearly a dozen Wraith drones and a lieutenant had found them. _

_The team resolved to fight to the death, making their stand as they were unable to escape, first Peterson went down, then Markus and then Roberts before as the last one standing Vanessa was overwhelmed and stunned. _

_When she awoke, the Wraith lieutenant made her watch as he and his men fed on the other members of her team, draining them dry before the shot something into her back and sneered at her _

"_Now female, we have implanted you with a tracking device in your back. If we find you, we will do to you what will have just done to your team mates. Congratulations you're a runner now" he sniggered as his drones laughed letting her get to her feet and run for the gate. _

_And she'll keep on running till she can get this thing out of her back_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Back in the blue void again Vanessa suddenly noticed it was darker, nearly black now and she felt like she was being pulled away when a another group of flashes hit her very quickly _

_One where she was a Navy Seal on a dangerous mission in South America_

_Another where she was a slave dancer in a Roman era Earth_

_One where was a single mother working as a secretary in Pittsburgh_

_A gym and dancing teacher in a high school in Miami_

_A detective in the LAPD_

_And then she blacked out again_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

In the infirmary the glow that had engulfed Vanessa's body grew dimmer and dimmer till it finally faded and she returned to normal, and then slowly as an amazed Claire, Chloe and TJ looked on Vanessa opened her eyes.

"Vanessa thank god" Claire remarked and handed her a glass of water when she motioned for it "How are you feeling?" Claire asked her and Vanessa just looked at her as what she had just experienced stayed fresh in her mind

Colonel Young, Camille and Rush came to the Infirmary after TJ sent word that she had woken. TJ checked her over and determined that she was physically fine. Vanessa told them what she had seen while she had been in that brief coma.

"You might just have imagined it" Camille suggested but Claire remembered that the storm had been a rift in space/time and asked a trick question to see what happened

"456 times 596?" she asked quickly not giving her chance to think about it

"271776" Vanessa said without even thinking surprising not only herself but everyone in the room

"Wait how did I know that?" Vanessa said

"You said you experienced the lives of your alternates" Claire said and Vanessa nodded so Claire asked "Do you still have their memories?"

"As clearly as my own and they don't see to be fading" Vanessa said and Claire smiled

"I think what experienced was real, probably that storm split your consciousness over several realities before the radiation or whatever it was faded and you pulled yourself back together but when you connected to those other versions of you must have absorbed their skills, memories and knowledge as well. Your IQ's received a considerable boost" Claire explained

"So they are all a part of her now?" Young asked and Vanessa completely out of character when around a senior officer said

"She is right here Colonel" only to be mortified when she said it but the Colonel took no offence

"Yes, the sciences skills, improved hand to hand and weapon techniques, knowledge of the law, dancing, linguist abilities all it has been downloaded into Vanessa's brain" she told him "Whether it will last or not I don't know"

"Okay till we're satisfied that your ready your off duty Lieutenant James understood?" Colonel Young said and Vanessa opened her mouth to object before saying reluctantly

"Yes sir"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **


	21. Chapter 21 Subversion & Incursion Part 1

_I DO NOT OWN Stargate Universe_

**Chapter 21 – Subversion and Incursion Part 1**

Vanessa had just finished the IQ test that Claire had set up for her on one of their laptops. The female marine had had no issues with it and come through with flying colours. When Claire had examined the test answers she worked out that Vanessa's IQ had risen from a hundred and ten to two hundred and thirty. She now spoke Ancient fluently amongst others and had a genuine grasp of physics and mathematics. With some more tuition in things like wormhole theory Vanessa could become an invaluable part of the science team.

But Claire was taken from her thoughts when the Colonel called her to his quarters. She arrived and the Colonel was waiting there for her along with Rush and Matt.

"Right then Claire, given your time spent amongst the Tok'ra I was hoping you might be able to offer some insight" Young said and a confused Claire said

"Okay, can I ask why?" and the Colonel explained to her and Matt the images that Rush had seen and believed to be memories left over from when Colonel Telford and he had last swapped places and passed to Rush accidently, namely Telford giving classified information on Icarus to the Lucian Alliance.

"Well that might explain why in the other universe Telford surrendered _Destiny_ so easily" Claire commented however Matt had something he had to say

"All right look sir" Matt said "I understand you've had your issues with Colonel Telford but you cannot seriously…" but he was interrupted by Young who told him, Rush and Claire to sit down on the seats nearby where Young joined them

"Before he was assigned to Icarus Telford spent the better part of a year undercover, infiltrating the Alliance" Young told them

"You really think he would turn?" Matt scoffed as Claire and Rush took the info seriously

Then Young added "Eight months into his assignment, there was an attack on a planet that we had a large team working on P2S-569. Thirty seven people were killed" looking Scott straight in the eye who stopped scoffing immediately "Now we later found out that Telford knew about the attack and decided to do nothing" and all three of his guests looked uncomfortable as they thought about the implications and Young told them that it had all been swept under the rug because Telford had convinced everyone that it was to protect his cover.

"We know that the Goa'uld had brainwashing technology that could make a man turn against his own mother and be proud of it" Young said

"Za'tarc technology" Claire clarified and Young nodded

"It is possible that the Alliance now has that capability" Young told them and Claire had to admit given how much Goa'uld stuff had fallen into the hands of the Alliance it was a distinct possibility

"If they do sir then we can't trust anyone" Scott said disbelievingly and Claire decided to get his head straightened out

"Believe me Matt this is nothing to joke around about, I spent months on the Tok'ra homeworld and I can tell you that the effects of this stuff are nearly undetectable and you can be programmed to do anything they want you too" she said and told them what she had seen "Since the fall of the Goa'uld Empire, the Tok'ra have been working hard to make sure that the most dangerous stuff they had doesn't fall into the wrong hands and they know that at least one minor Goa'uld who had access to Za'tarc tech was captured and tortured by the Alliance. If they managed to get the tech off of him then it is nearly certain that they would use it"

"Claire" Young said "Could you build that detection device that the Tok'ra came up with to screen for these things?"

Claire looked at him with disbelief "With what Colonel? I don't have the parts here and testing Telford on this end would be pointless since as it won't be his body the device wouldn't give the right reading. You should get the SGC to try and get the Tok'ra to do it themselves" and Young nodded

He told them "Homeworld Command will be advised, for now speak about this to no-one till we get an answer from Earth". The Colonel said he was going to Earth to advise them while they were to keep an eye on Colonel Telford.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

So they all went about their daily work but couldn't forget the possibility they'd just been talking about. Claire looked around the Mess hall and noticed the crew around her and the thought leapt into her mind as her eyes moved from Park, Brody and Volker to James, TJ and Greer

What if these people had been brainwashed? Could any of them be a hidden spy and them not know it?

Claire shook her head to force the thought away. She couldn't doubt everyone that was a sure way to paranoia. Matt walked up to her and sat down before leaning forward to say

"Can you believe this situation?" and Claire unfortunately nodded

"Like I said Matt, I've seen this stuff before but let me give you a piece of advice" she told him quietly so they wouldn't be overheard "Don't let it change how you treat or think about people, or you'll drive yourself mad with this"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

One Earth, Colonel Young was telling them about what he had been told by both Rush and Claire, O'Neill having seen the effects of the Goa'uld brainwashing tech before was understandably concerned, Carl Strom however was being difficult

"Colonel is it really necessary to have an officer of the SGC submitted to this rather invasive screening on the basis of a few dreams experienced by one of your scientists?" and Young felt like pulling his hair out

"Sir if Telford has been compromised then he has been leaking information to the Alliance for months. Now are you willing to let this continue on the off chance that you might be right?" and Strom looked indignant but O'Neill nodded

"I'll get on to the Tok'ra immediately they should be able to get a testing device here soon enough, in the meantime you keep Telford on Destiny till their ready" he ordered and before Strom could object Young nodded and headed out to spent the time as best he could till the time was right. He decided to go and see the lawyer he'd hired to see how his divorce was going.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire and Rush meanwhile where dividing their time between keeping an eye on Telford and trying to create system lockout that could prevent him from accessing the ship's computer if he tried. Scott was trying as best he could to stay out of Telford's way and not alert the man they were on to him.

Meanwhile Claire went to attend TJ's baby shower, which was quite possibly the most popular event they'd had on this ship. Most of the crew had done their best to get something to help TJ with her baby. Claire smiled as she realised that TJ was never going to have a shortage of babysitters

"Oh Chloe" TJ said happily as she opened her present. Chloe had made her a tiny version of an Icarus uniform; everyone gave a small laugh when they saw it "Oh Chloe I didn't know you could sew" and Chloe said slightly embarrassed

"Oh no I can't…Not really…I hope it doesn't fall apart" but Claire looked at the little uniform and had to say that Chloe had done an excellent job

"No it's beautiful" TJ told her with a huge smile on her face "Thank you"

Chloe told her "You're welcome"

"Here open this one" Riley told her handing her his present. Claire noticed Eli who had been filming the whole thing talking with Volker in hushed whispers but shook her head and turned her attention back to TJ, this was her day

"Oh my god" TJ said when she unwrapped the little bundle and saw inside a homemade toy truck "You made this yourself?" TJ asked him and Riley nodded humbly and Claire patted him on the back

"If it's a girl I can make something else" he told her but TJ shook her head still smiling

"No its perfect thank you" she told him and then Brody and Volker came in carrying a homemade crib leaving TJ happy but speechless. When she finally did regain her voice she said

"Guys I don't know to say" and she looked up close. The two men had taken a lot of care to make it safe for a baby and TJ gave them both a tight hug. Claire walked up with her present carefully wrapped in cloth

"Thank you Claire" TJ said and carefully she unwrapped the bundle and saw a colour frame of smooth metals with a painted five pointed gold star on it with the points smoothed out. There was a switch on the side and the moment TJ flicked the switch it started rotating and playing a lovely sounding lullaby. TJ and the others listened for a moment before TJ gently switched the mobile off and said

"Claire it's beautiful" TJ said genuinely touched

"I'm just glad you like it" Claire said warmly, glad that TJ liked her present. It was the same melody that her mother had sung to her when she was a child; she'd spent hours on her laptop to remake it from memory.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

The Tok'ra had responded quickly and sent Anise with one of their testing devices to the SGC where O'Neill met the Tok'ra he had worked with before warmly

"Hi there Anise, how are things?" he asked and the mentioned woman smiled at the Colonel before answering

"Very well General, Maylin has been very successful in making more larval Tok'ra, even another queen"

O'Neill wasn't comfortable with the subject but managed to say "Good for you, now is it ready?"

"Yes general, we've managed to make some improvements so now it can tell with more certainty if a person is a Za'tarc or not" and showed him the chair-like device "Now where is the man we'll be testing?" she asked and O'Neill called over Young who was still in Telford's body and made the call to the Pentagon and said to disconnect the stones. The effect was immediate, the eyes gazed over and Telford found himself back in his own body and took a moment to adjust to his new surroundings before asking when he saw the chair

"Sir what's going on?"

O'Neill said carefully "Colonel I need you to take a seat" and motioned to the chair but Telford didn't make a move

"Sir" he said confused and O'Neill said to him

"You may have been compromised Colonel and I need to know for sure, now sit down" he ordered and the marines at the door stepped forward. Telford took one look before sitting down in the detector. It locked the memory recall device in place and Anise started it up, the pain was sharp but brief.

But then Telford suddenly felt a burning pain in the back of his skull as the chair began to probe his memories. Images from his life flashed before his eyes; his mother and father cuddling him, his first day in school, his sister being born, high school football games, military school, his sister's wedding, serving in the Gulf War, his new relationship with Emily and more.

But then some murky images then started to rise to his consciousness and the montage slowed right down into slow motion but he couldn't remember any of this happening, predominantly he saw himself tied to a table as a man and a woman stood over him and shined some bright light in his eyes.

Back in the real world, O'Neill looked on uncomfortably as Telford convulsed in pain as the device did its unpleasant work. Anise kept checking the readings and sighed before turning to O'Neill who looked at her expectantly

"He is a Za'tarc general" and she set the device to try and bring more of his suppressed memories to the surface. She massaged her temples as she added "This confirms that the Lucian Alliance has managed to acquire Za'tarc technology"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Anise agreed to test both base personnel at the SGC as well as Homeworld Command while O'Neill had Landry recall Daniel and Vala from their off world mission. The two returned within an hour, joining him in the briefing room

"Jack well it's nice to see you but what's going on?" Daniel asked having come back from a very interesting trade negotiation with the inhabitants of P6X-46P. Vala however had become quickly bored and greeted the general warmly with a strong hug

"Thank you general I thought I was going to go mad with boredom back there" Vala thought him putting an annoyed frown on Daniel's face when he looked at his girlfriend and it would normally have put a smile on O'Neill's face but the situation was too grave

"You'd best sit" he told them and they did as they were told mystified by his attitude "We just confirmed that Colonel Telford has been brainwashed by the Lucian Alliance and has been leaking information"

The two of them were stunned but they were broken by Anise, two marines and Telford himself looking shaken

"Sir" Telford said mournfully after Anise had used the machine to break the programming the Alliance had put in him

"Colonel" O'Neill said and Telford's eyes fell when O'Neill asked "What did you leak?"

"The location of that outpost on P2S-569, the location of Icarus base and the specifics on nine chevron dialling" he told them giving an overview and Daniel commented

"The nine chevron dialling program is useless without the power to supply it and that was destroyed with Icarus"

But Telford told them "They found another Icarus like planet sir" and the atmosphere in the room became suddenly colder as the existence of the second planet was confirmed and that it was in Lucian Alliance hands

"But that means they can get to _Destiny_" Vala said worried

"But they haven't yet" Telford told them "I was supposed to drop some files on the ship today"

"Well our get some troops together and grab them before they leave Earth" O'Neill said but Telford leapt in

"Sir this could be the chance to give them false information and find out where the base is"

O'Neill looked doubtful "David I'm still not convinced your clear yet, if this goes sideways you could find yourself in Alliance hands" he told him and Telford said

"Sir if I don't make the meeting and those who meet me don't come back then it might spook them into dialling _Destiny_ now" he told him and Anise suggested

"We could fit him with a tracking beacon, it would be undetectable and we could follow at a safe distance"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

O'Neill reluctantly agreed and tasked the _Sun Tzu_ and the _Hammond_ to pick up additional troops from the SGC and prepare to follow the Alliance ship when it left Earth. Daniel and Vala were tasked with watching the meeting while _Destiny_ was instructed to make themselves ready if this operation went sideways.

Telford went in his car, the Tok'ra implant located in his lower back to the hangers where the meeting was set, Daniel and Vala followed a distance behind. He parked up in front of the hanger and saw the Lucian Alliance group waiting, Daniel and Vala got out of their own car a short distance away and crept closer to the hanger and up the ladder at the side of the building so they could get a better view and take some pictures. Even Vala was being quiet, now was not the time for messing about, then Daniel's earpiece activated

"Daniel, how are things going?" Jack O'Neill asked

"Fine Jack" Daniel said and Jack told him some bad news

"The _Sun Tzu's_ commander is telling me that they're using some kind of jamming device so we can't get a lock on anyone in the area. What's your status?" he asked

"Telford's arrived and surrounded by three members of the Alliance" he told him and then Vala said

"Daniel" pointing out three new figures that walked out of a concealed spot

"Make that six" Daniel said to O'Neill

Telford was so grateful for all his training, it was all that stopped him from becoming consumed by nerves as the woman and other man stepped closer. He recognised them from his recovered memories. They were the ones who had programmed him into a traitor of his planet. The man next to her might have been quite threatening but the woman was scarier. Her severe looking face and outfit were bad enough but her eyes were like a shark's, dark and soulless.

"So Colonel; have you got what I asked for?" the woman that Telford now recalled was named Kiva asked

"Specifics on _Destiny_" he said handing her the file that had been very quickly doctored to give her as much plausible but false information as possible. She took the file from him and give it a quick look through before handing it to the man standing at her side and telling him

"Thank you Colonel, we're finally ready" she told him and nodded to the man standing at his shoulder who shoved a device into his neck. All Telford felt was a brief painful shock before he was caught by the men and fell unconscious. Daniel and Vala who were still watching took immediate action

"Jack his cover's blow move in now" and the two of them moved quickly back down the ladder drawing their weapons as they reached the ground. The screech of tires as the SUVs carrying the support troops pulled up. Daniel and Vala moved forward but the roar of a ship's engines sounded and they saw just for a moment a Goa'uld cargo ship lift off and vanish into the sky

"Jack this is Daniel, they've got away. Get the ships to track and follow them" he said to Jack

"Already did, they're on their way"

Vala looked upset "Daniel do you think that they could get to Destiny?" she asked him

"For Claire and the others sakes Vala I hope not" he said

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A few hours later at Homeworld Command Jack, Daniel and Young had met in Jack's office to discuss what they had learned

"Okay according to our intelligence her name is Kiva" Daniel said handing them a picture of the woman at the meeting "She's the daughter of a Lucian Alliance warlord called Massin, one of the higher ups. Brutal and powerful" Daniel told them and Jack said

"That name's come up before" and Daniel nodded

"Yes Massin was the one who had Sam and Claire abducted two years ago" he said

"And had Claire tortured as I recall" Young said

"Yeah the same" Daniel confirmed "Are the ships still following them?" he asked Jack

"At a discreet distance and they haven't deactivated Telford's tracking device" Jack told him before turning to Young "If they thing Telford's been exposed then they might try to dial _Destiny_ now, you'd best go back and get things ready if they do, the ships will try to take the base but if that doesn't work then you need to be ready on your end"

"Yes sir" Young said and went back to the Communications room to deactivate the stones

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The cargo ship arrived at Kiva's base on the second Icarus planet. The _Sun Tzu_ and the _Hammond_ held back while they relayed the data and awaited instructions. Telford was now fully awake and walked cuffed now that Kiva was unsure of his loyalties through the hall of the old temple that had once been a base to Ares, one of the old System Lords.

"Olan status" Kiva demanded and the nervous looking scientist told her

"We're making progress but it will be days before we can attempt a dialling" he said handing her his calculations but then a young red headed technician got a look at the calculations and couldn't help saying

"Those are wrong"

Kiva turned to look at her and demanded "Explain"

"Well here, here and here are all incorrect" Ginn told them, pointing out flaws in the calculations and Olan despite his fear was about to rebuff her when he noticed that she was right and swallowed an apology on the tip of his tongue when Kiva nodded to Dannic who wrapped a piece of thin wire around his throat and tightened it. Olan struggled for only a moment before Dannic finished it and Olan dropped dead on the floor. Telford and Ginn looked horrified at the corpse but Ginn was brought back to the situation when Kiva told her

"Correct the calculations and get the dialling program ready, you have one hour" and Ginn hurried away to do her work

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Young returned to the ship and immediately had the gate room sealed before making his address to the crew in the mess hall

"To all hands this is Young" he started "We've been informed that this ship faces an incursion by the armed forces of the Lucian Alliance, the group responsible for the attack on Icarus Base. All military personnel on-board have been placed on high alert. If the enemy has acquired the means to dial Destiny, their point of ingress will be the stargate. So the gate room is off limits, all the surrounding corridors will be placed under lock down. No one may enter without proper authorisation. Homeworld command has acquired Intel on the location of the planet from which the Lucian Alliance intends to launch their assault. They are coordinating forces as we speak, the best case scenario Earth forces will take the launch point intact and we gain a supply line from home. The worst case scenario is that our forces don't make it to the launch point before the attack is launched in which case we will have to deal with them on our end" he told them and the group listened silently all praying for the best case scenario

"In that event" Young continued "All non-military personnel will be ordered back to your quarters where you will remain until the situation has been resolved. Make no mistake this will be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Thank you that is all" he concluded and the crew went to carry out their assigned tasks.

The atmosphere on the ship was tense, in contrast to the relaxed even happy air that been at TJ's baby shower. Claire was in the control room with Rush and Brody making last minute preparations

"The gas container and environmental controls are responding and the doors are vacuum sealed" Claire told them

Brody reported "All control panels on that side have been disabled and all door controls disconnected"

"Well then I'd say that were ready" Rush said

"Well I'd best go and inform the Colonel" Claire said and left the room to do so when she heard a sobbing sound coming from the corner. Claire stopped to look and saw Kathy had tucked herself into as small a form as possible and hidden herself

"Hey Kathy what's wrong?" Claire asked rushing over to take hold of the blond pilot whose face was marked by tears

"It's happening again, it's happening again" Kathy kept repeating over and over again and Claire kept trying to gain her attention but Kathy was lose in her fear till Claire grabbed Kathy's face with both hands and forced her to look Claire in the eye

"Now you listen" Claire said "What happened on your _Destiny_ is not going to happen here" but Kathy was still too frightened as the memories of what had happened to her flashed through her mind

"But what if it does?" Kathy said, so Claire looked her straight in the eye and told her

"This is a different ship that is prepared for the Alliance, we have a better leader. Young will not falter" and poured all the conviction she could muster into those words and wrapped her arms around Kathy and led her to Camille who agree to stay with her

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Back in the Milky Way, General O'Neill ordered the two Earth ships to begin their attack. One Alliance mother ship was in orbit but was quickly overwhelmed by the two ships firing their Asgard beam weapons and exploded into a million pieces and the two Earth ships established orbit over the planet and started to beam troops down outside the temple while scrambling F-302's for support since the temple was shielded against beaming technology.

The Lucian Alliance soldiers on perimeter duty barely managed to get off a shot before the Earth marines started shooting taking down three guards before the Alliance troops started shooting back. One marine fell to the bullets of the Alliance troops but the marines pressed forward and beamed the injured man back to the ship. Once inside the structure they split into their individual groups.

In the gate room of the temple Kiva heard from her guards that the Tau'ri had launched an attack on the base

"You will hold them" she ordered but the man in charge of the guards engaging the Earth soldiers told her through his radio

"But Commander we're being overwhelmed" and Kiva cursed the man's cowardice before switching off her radio and went to Ginn who had just finished her calculations

"We need to dial the stargate now" she told Ginn who looked at her horrified

"If we dial now the planet will be destroyed" Ginn told her but Kiva was unperturbed

"Will we be able to reach _Destiny_?" she asked and Ginn nodded so Kiva told her "Do it"

So Ginn now terrified started dialling the stargate and Kiva told the troops she had available

"Gather our equipment, we're going through"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

One the bridge of the _Sun Tzu_, the ship's commanding Officer General Zheng was receiving reports from the troops on the surface when his science officer drew his attention

"General we are detecting a massive spike in the core of the planet and the stargate has engaged, I believe they are attempting to dial _Destiny_" the young man Lieutenant Shang told him

"Can it be stopped?" he asked his junior officer and Shang answered quickly

"No sir, the planet is doomed"

General Zheng quickly and decisively took action "Beam up our soldiers from the surface and prepare sub light engines the moment we have them"

His officers went to work immediately retrieving their endangered ground troops but his comm officer then gave him bad news

"Sir one of the squads is now too deep in the temple for us to get a lock and communications are being affected by the distortions from the planet

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kiva gripped hold of the wall as the planet continued to shake while the stargate was dialled, finally the ninth chevron engaged and the familiar plume erupted from the centre and then settled back into the simmering portal

"Now gather our supplies and head through, you too Telford" she ordered and about two dozen of her soldiers picked up the supply boxes that filled the room and headed through the wormhole Telford amongst them. Just as the last one headed through the vortex, the marine detachment that had been unable to evacuate reached the gate room.

"Damn it" Major Kate Todd said as they saw the wormhole open and the planet shook beneath their feet. She tried again in vain to get hold of the ships in orbit but communications were non-functional. She and her five troops were trapped here

A particularly violent shake nearly sent them to their feet, Kate looked around and her eyes were drawn to the stargate. Her Gunnery Sergeant Sean Tyler followed her gaze and shook his head

"No way, we go through that we are not coming back" he said quickly but Kate with a sinking weight in her stomach told him

"But we'll be alive and have a chance to go home; if we stay here we're dead"

The marines all looked uncomfortable but they followed their leader who ran into the wormhole, just moments before the planet was destroyed

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

On the other side of the universe, the ship dropped out of FTL, an event that the crew were praying didn't happen as it meant that the SGC had failed and the Lucian Alliance had dialled Destiny. From the control interface room, Young, Clare, Rush and Scott watched via Kino as the gate dialled with all nine chevrons lighting up. The wormhole engaged and settled into the puddle and then they started pouring through in a chaotic frenzy. Claire careful counted as each one came through, finally reaching just over two dozen when a further six came in bringing the total to about thirty and the gate shut down

She turned to Young who told her "Do it" and Claire activated the gas

The green gas began to filter into the room and the already shaken people suddenly started coughing as the gas was breathed into their lungs and after a couple of moments they fell into unconsciousness.

Claire moved the Kino closer to check and confirmed that they were unconscious

"Purge the gas and tell Greer and James to search the Alliance troops and put them in the holds, split them into groups of ten, post a heavy guard on each one" Young ordered and Scott nodded and went to follow his CO's orders while Claire purged the gas from the gate room

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Destiny's_ military quickly searched the Lucian Alliance troops and stripped them of their tools and weapons before locking them up in the hold. Kiva was put away from the rest in secured quarters under guard. Colonel Telford and the six marines that surprisingly came through were moved to the infirmary so that the Colonel could question them after they came round.

Telford was the first to wake, he bolted up and TJ and Young caught him

"David it's alright" Young told him and Telford lay back against the bed

"I' am I?" he asked

"On _Destiny_" Young confirmed

"The Lucian Alliance" Telford asked

"All secured" and Telford relaxed a little then on the bed next to him, Major Todd started to wake up. Colonel Young went over and said "Major Todd" remembering the woman from his time at the SGC

"Colonel Young" she replied coughing a bit as the last of the gas was ejected from her lungs "Did my boys and girls make it?" she asked and Young turned to TJ

"All six of you are going to make full recoveries" TJ said to reassure the woman who nodded but Young had questions

"Major if you might explain how six marines ended up coming through the gate with a dozen Lucian Alliance I would like to know" he asked her and the Major grimaced

"We had infiltrated the temple when they dialled the gate; we couldn't get out in time before the planet blew so I ordered to go through the gate. Better here than dead" she told him ad Young nodded

"Well welcome to Destiny" he told her

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile in a secured room, Kiva was coming around. She checked her environment before checking what she had on her which was very little. The Tau'ri must have searched me Kiva thought to herself.

She felt around inside her mouth and found tucked away in a special corner of her mouth a special tiny lock pick device that her father had made for her

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_FINALLY reached Incursion, hope you guys have enjoyed it so far, please let me know what you think_

_**If I had to say who would play the parts of the AU characters I've introduced this is who I would cast:**_

_2__ND__ Lieutenant Kathleen 'Kathy' Scott – Rachel Nichols_

_Major Kate Todd – Sasha Alexander _

_Gunnery Sergeant Sean Tyler – Alek Paunovic _

_Corporal Paul Rexon – Chiwetel Ejiofor_

_Corporal Laura Cox – Gina Carano_

_Private Carl Krieger – Ryan Kennedy_

_Private Selene Howard – Magda Apanowicz_


	22. Chapter 22 Incursion Part 2

_I DO NOT OWN Stargate Universe_

_Chronus1326 raised a point from the last chapter so I feel I should explain. I heard of some magicians who have a pouch inside their mouths were they can hide keys for when their doing escape acts. That was where Kiva hid her lock pick, a special pouch of skin inside of her mouth not in a tooth_

"__" Radio speak_

**Chapter 22 – Incursion Part 2**

The ship was still in lock down after the boarding of _Destiny_ by the Lucian Alliance, who was thankfully under lock and key.

Or so it was thought.

The room where Kiva was locked up was being guarded by Corporal Rivers and Airman Rennie. Rennie turned to his partner and asked

"Hey mind if I go get some food for a moment, I'm starving?" he asked

Rivers turned to face him, conflicted since he was hungry himself and everything was under control here. He made up his mind and said

"Okay but get me something would you and don't let the Colonel catch you or were both for the high jump" Rivers said and Rennie nodded before running off to the mess hall.

He'd been gone for only a minute or so when Rivers heard a strange clicking sound and the door started to open. He grabbed his radio and said into it

"_Colonel this is"_ but before he could say anymore Kiva dove through the still opening door and punched him straight in the throat and then took the still grasping for air marine in a headlock and without expression snapped his neck. She picked up his rifle and quickly took off into the corridors

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

In the Infirmary, Colonel Young was still debriefing Telford and Todd about what had happened when his radio sounded

"_Colonel this is"_ and then it went dead again. Young knew the voice belonged to Rivers and immediately called back

"_Rivers this is Young come in"_ only to be answered with silence so he repeated _"Rivers this is Young come in"_. Everyone looked to him

"_Scott this is Young"_ he said calling his junior officer

"_Young this is Scott I read you"_ Matt answered immediately

"_I want you to double the guards on the Lucian Alliance prisoners and all critical areas, Kiva may be loose and armed"_ he said and Matt who responded

"_Yes sir" _

"Everett" Telford said losing his military discipline for a moment "Don't underestimate her, she'd a nightmare" he told his friend and follow officer and Major Todd and her marines all got up and Todd told him

"Me and my marines are ready to go sir" but Young shook his head

"I need you here to guard the infirmary, if Kiva managed to set her troops free this is going to be a strongpoint for whoever controls it" he told her and although they looked ready to argue they nodded and Todd said "Yes sir" and Young went off to head the search.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

The three men guarding one of the sealed compartments where the Lucian Alliance soldiers were just standing there doing their job when they were both shot by Kiva who leaned around the corner and ran up to the door and opened it

"Commander" Dannic said when he saw the woman on the other side as he and his men stepped out and took the weapons off the downed guards, kicking them just for the hell of it.

"Dannic, take the men and secure the others" she told him and he nodded before going off with his nine men to carry out her orders. She meanwhile went to find the civilians so they could take some hostages.

After they left Greer arrived with five other marines to find the hold empty and three of their men down. Greer checked them for a pulse and found they were alive but needed medical attention. Greer immediately called Colonel Young

"_Colonel Young this is Greer, at least half of the Alliance are out repeat at least half the Alliance are out"_ he said

"_Greer this is Young I want you to go to the other hold and secure it, have your guys bring the wounded to the infirmary"_ Young ordered via the radio

"Yes sir" Greer said and three of the marines that were with him went to take their wounded comrades to the infirmary while he and his remaining buddy went to the other hold at running speed.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

TJ was notified by Young to expect causalities, she had been hoping that her skills wouldn't be needed during this crisis but it seems she and Chloe were going to be hard at work. She was getting ready to receive the wounded when she felt a contraction but it quickly passed

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Greer arrived at the other hold and discovered much to his relieve that it hadn't been breached yet. He told the soldiers guarding it

"The bad guys are on their way here, whatever happens they do not get through that door" Greer told his men and they took up positions just in time to see a group of armed Lucian Alliance troops coming down the corridor. Greer managed to shot first and one of the enemy troops went down before the others could find cover and started shooting back.

Bullets flew from both sides as each one tried to get a kill shot, next to Greer; Private Henderson was hit in the neck and bled out in seconds. Greer held his hand while the other marines continued shooting. As the light went out of Henderson's eyes, Greer felt an anger the likes of which he had never felt before. He picked up his rifle and with an ice cold fury started shooting again. The Lucians had no proper cover and had pressed themselves against the wall while the marines had some crates and boxes to shield themselves with. One by one the Lucian Alliance soldiers fell till only Dannic and one other called Simeon were left. Simeon seeing this fight was lost snuck away while Dannic's back was turned. When the aforementioned man turned to see Simeon gone we was distracted for just long enough so the Greer could get a shot to Dannic's leg causing the man to stumble and then Greer finished him off with a shot to the head.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Simeon crept through the corridors of the ship wondering what to do next. He could escape off of the ship, but a life of solitude on some barren rock didn't appeal to him and he certainly wasn't going to go out like Dannic in some pointless blaze of glory.

Then in the distance he heard footsteps and carefully so that he wouldn't be seen leaned out to see a young female Tau'ri marine in combat dress. Even with the situation he couldn't help but admire her beauty. She had long dark brown hair tied up in a knot behind her head and a gently rounded face. And even under the uniform he could see her figure was well curved. A nasty smile came to his face as he imaged what he could do with her and he got ready to jump her as she came past. Just as he moved into action the female Tau'ri however with a grace that astounded him doubted the assault and went for her rifle which he then managed to knock it out of her hands and across the room. They began circling each other and Simeon noted the name on her uniform…James.

"Oh sweetie I really like a woman who struggles" he said hoping to unnerve her but Vanessa just replied

"This time you bit off more than you can chew" and she started attacking with a frenzy of kicks and punches that she's learned in her unarmed combat training. Simeon dodged most of them but one of her kicks connected to his jaw and he felt his lip begin to bleed. But Vanessa didn't let up in her attacks. She felt a punch connect with her face but she didn't let that stop her and quickly struck him back with a kick to his chest. She whipped out her Ka-Bar and with ruthless accuracy plunged the weapon into his stomach. Simeon felt the pain as the blade pierced his body before he slipped to the floor and looked down to see the blood pouring from the wound.

Vanessa called it in but the infirmary was too far away and too busy at the moment as TJ and Chloe tried to save the three marines that the Lucian Alliance had shot, at least two of them weren't expected to survive. So Vanessa told him with any real compassion

"It'll all be over in a moment" and took her small med kit out and gave him a small shot for the pain before letting him die in peace.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Kiva had no idea that her men had failed and now she was alone. Her plan was to try and take some hostages so that she could force Colonel Young to surrender to her. She was hoping that the ship's infirmary might be a good place to look when she came across a young woman walking down the corridors with an energy pistol at her waist. She recognised her from the files that Telford had given her, this was Claire Williams. She pulled out her rifle and stepped in front of Williams who stopped surprised and her eyes nervously looking at the gun barrel in her face

"So Williams I heard you were some kind of genius" Kiva said feeling smug

"So what if I am?" Claire said not letting her fear show

"Take me to the control room" Kiva said and Claire turned around to start walking the other way when she sprang into action. She was a black belt in several martial arts including; Judo, Jiujutsu, American karate, ninjutsu and had even taken the Marine Corps Martial Arts program and qualified as an instructor. But her favourite style Krav maga. This is a brutal street fighting style martial art that was targeted at attacking at the first opportunity and was brilliant for defending yourself against an opponent with a weapon like a knife or a gun at close quarters.

So the moment Kiva was behind her and the gun came closer to her back, Claire whipped around and elbowed Kiva in the arm before getting up close and grabbing the barrel of the rifle so she could point it away from her body and drove her knee into Kiva's stomach before twisting the rifle out of Kiva's hands and smashing the gun butt into Kiva's face. She would have shot Kiva with it but the rifle was out of ammo and threw the gun away before continuing with her attack.

Although winded and with her nose broken from Claire's sudden assault, Kiva threw a wild punch at Claire who stopped it by knocking Kiva's arm wide with one arm and swung upwards with the palm of her hand to Kiva's broken nose putting her in more pain and further disrupting Kiva's nervous system. But Kiva slipped back so Claire moved forward again and Kiva started attacking with a fury of kicks and punches like in kick boxing. Claire kept moving forward and used elbow blocks to swat the attacks aside before sending her knee into Kiva's stomach and Kiva then drew a knife that nicked Claire's arm, leaving a nasty cut that started to bleed. Claire then began waited for Kiva to come at her again before using one arm to grab Kiva's wrist and bend it back and the other to deliver a punch to Kiva's elbow causing Kiva to drop the knife which Claire grabbed while Kiva was recovering and threw it just as Kiva was coming at her again, with an accuracy that horrified Claire she sent the blade into Kiva's throat.

It was horrible, watching Kiva choke on her own blood, so horrible that Claire took out her gun which she hadn't managed to get to during the fight and as a mercy killing shot Kiva between the eyes, putting her out of her misery. Tears fell down Claire's face, Kiva may have been a horrible person, but she was a human being and to see someone like that shook Claire to the core.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Claire made her way to the Infirmary slowly and saw the Colonels, Major, Vanessa and Greer all talking giving them a report on what had happened and that Kiva was still at large

"She's been dealt with" Claire told them from the doorway and everyone turned to face her and Chloe saw the cut on her arm

"Claire what the hell happened?" she asked as she quickly walked forward to examine the quite large cut and pulled her gently forward so that she could apply a dressing

"I got in a little fight with Kiva" she said simply as Chloe carefully wrapped up Claire's wound

"And?" Telford asked and answered in an empty emotionless voice that they had never heard from her before

"I killed her"

"You killed her" Young said surprised and worried. Claire was not a killer; she was an inventor and a scientist despite whatever training she had received. She was not an ice cold assassin and spent her time making sure everyone was safe and secure. He was deeply worried about how this might affect her but he had to ask TJ as Chloe took care of Claire

"How did we fair?" and he looked at the blanket covered bodies dreading the answer

"We lost Rivers, Henderson, Michaels and Armando. The rest should recover in time" she told him regretfully and Young sighed as his hand went to her brow as he felt the deaths of the four men under his command

TJ then turned away when she felt a sharp pain like she had been feeling all day and a wet feeling going down her legs she looked down and realised what was happening

"Oh my water just brought" TJ said startling everyone and everyone just stooped for a moment before it clicked in what was happening.

TJ was going into labour

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Everyone who could move but Colonel Young, TJ and Chloe were told to leave as TJ stripped down and got onto the only available bed with Young's help who actually carried her. TJ's contractions were getting closer and closer together. She was in should pain but there was no pain relief they could safely give her and this carried on for nearly six hours

TJ yelled in pain as another contraction hit and said "Oh I really hate you right now Everett" she said angrily as the Colonel held her hand.

"I know Tamara I know" he said knowing that she didn't really mean it, it was the pain talking. Chloe checked Tamara just as she had been taught and noted that she was already 10cm dilated and her contractions were really close together now

"Okay I think it's time" Chloe said "Now on your next contraction push"

"I KNOW CHLOE" TJ screamed at her and she did just that despite how much more painful it was.

Meanwhile outside the infirmary; Claire, Vanessa, Camille, Eli and Matt were all waiting while Rush took care of things for a while. They could hear TJ's screams through the bulkhead.

Nearly an hour later TJ was exhausted

"I can't do it anymore" TJ said but Young who had never left her side and held her hand told her

"It's nearly over TJ just a little longer"

"Promise?" she asked him. Her brow was covered in sweat and her hair hung loosely down her shoulders but in Young's view she had never looked more beautiful

"Promise" he said and kissed her deeply

Then the contraction hit and Chloe told her "Come on TJ push"

And screaming all the way, TJ pushed with all the energy she had left and the next thing she knew, she could hear the cry of a baby before she collapsed backwards into the bed, breathing heavily but couldn't help but smile. Chloe cut the cord and handed the baby now wrapped in a bundle of fresh blankets to TJ who took the new born in her arms and stared in awe of the child that she had just given birth too.

"It's a girl by the way" Chloe told them with a smile and Young told her thank you before turning back to TJ and their baby

"She's perfect" TJ said as she gently stroked the baby forehead and it cuddled into her instinctively

"Yes she is" Young said as much in awe of this tiny little person as TJ was. TJ looked at him and asked

"Would you like to hold your daughter?" and Young nodded before very gently taking the baby in his arms. Young could only stare at the young life that TJ and he had created before he handed her back to her mother

"Carman" TJ said "Carman Young" naming her child after her own mother and giving her, her father's surname

"Well I'd better ask you to marry me then. Tamara Johansson will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" Young asked and TJ looked up at him before saying

"Yes" and very carefully Young wrapped his arms around TJ and Carman while kissing TJ deeply.

The door opened distracting them and they saw everyone outside look in on the scene with wonder before coming in Eli of course filming every moment on a Kino.

"Oh she's beautiful" Camille said when she saw the child

"What's her name?" Vanessa asked

"Carman Young" TJ told them proudly and Claire smiled good name

Then TJ whispered something in Young's ear who nodded before saying

"Claire, Matthew" turning to the indicated people "I was wondering if you would do us the honour of being Carman's godparents?" he asked

Matt and Claire were speechless and deeply touched by what the Colonel and TJ had asked them. They turned to each other and nodded before replying

"We'd be honoured"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_And Season 1 draws to a close, I hope you like what I wrote for this chapter it was hard to write _

_Please let me know what you think by reviewing_


	23. Chapter 23 Aftermath

_I do not own Stargate Universe_

"__" Radio talk_

**Chapter 23 – Aftermath**

It was only three days after the Lucian Alliance had invaded _Destiny_ and Kiva had been killed. The rest of the Alliance troops didn't seem to be giving them much trouble. The ship had recently had some problems with a pulsar that it had passed close to but they had managed to get away from it eventually.

Claire's expanded hydroponics proposal was really paying off now, they hadn't found any planets where they could resupply in a while and their stocks were dwindling but thanks to them having three hydroponic gardens instead of just one they had a while before the situation became critical. That said Colonel Young and Camille had asked Claire to get started on setting up three more gardens but Claire was at best distant these days.

She just sat on the observation deck, staring out into space; her friends looked on with concern as she rarely ate or slept. She didn't go to work and she never said anything to anyone without being distracted.

Over and over again in her mind Claire kept replaying Kiva's death, the look in her eyes as she choked on her own blood when the knife Claire had thrown into her throat had done its damage. She never really killed anyone before, not with her own hands. She might have tricked two of those Alliance soldiers in the other universe into opening a compartment where they had been sucked out into space. But to watch someone dying by your own hands right in front of your eyes Claire was finding very different.

Claire barely reacted when she heard her radio start

"_Claire this is Young come in"_ but he had to repeat himself before Claire took any notice

"_Yes Colonel"_ she said in an empty emotionless voice

"_Claire will you join us in the control interface room if it's not too much trouble"_ Young said annoyed at his best scientist's absence and Claire slowly got to her feet and said

"_I'm on my way"_ and walked at a steady pace to the control interface room

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire passed Rush going somewhere in a hurry on the way but she barely took notice of him as she reached the room where Colonels Young, Telford and Major Todd where waiting with Lisa Park

"Good of you to join us" Telford said sarcastically but a look from Young shut him up

"Right Claire how's things going on the new hydroponics labs?" he asked "Claire?" he said waking her from her distracted state

"The gardens" she said having to shake herself to focus "Yeah we've got the equipment and seed pods all set up now we have to choose locations"

Young nodded "Okay work with Park and find some areas we could covert" and he and his fellow officers left while Claire went over to Lisa who looked at her superior and asked concerned

"Are you sure you're alright?" and Claire just said

"I'm fine Lisa, let's just get this done" and they turned their attention to the ship map that they plotted from their explorations and chose three storage rooms near the inhabited areas of the ship which would have to be cleared of boxes but should make useful hydroponics bays.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Rush meanwhile had taken the lift all the way to the top of the pyramid structure at the back of the ship. His computer program had directed him here after it finally cracked the master code this morning. He exited the lift and came to a very heavy and secure looking door with a code lock; he input the master code and the door slid open to reveal another door, this one an orange colour with golden ornate designs on it. He pressed the door release again and the second door opened to reveal a room that was shrouded in darkness but the limited lighting in the room showed the design. As Rush moved slowly forward the lighting grew slightly brighter showing workstations and in the centre just past the railing that Rush lent on a chair with smaller displays around it. With an increasing feeling of excitement, Rush moved down the small steps to examine some of the workstations in detail especially the one in the centre. Then the rest of the lights came on and revealed the medium sized room in detail as the displays on the different consoles came to life and with a slight sound the room opened its metal shields revealing the majestic looks of FTL as the whole section rose slightly from the ship's superstructure.

Rush took a moment to stare out of the now unobstructed windows before he sat down in the centre chair and started to study in detail the information that was being reported. He had just taken out his note book when he heard a voice, a voice that he hadn't heard for years except in his dreams

"You're not going to tell anyone are you?" his head slowly turned as his feeling of confusion grew only to get worse when he saw his long dead wife sitting at one of the workstations

"Gloria" he said bewildered at how this was possible

"Your program finally worked" Gloria said "Unlocked the master code. You found the key to controlling all of _Destiny's_ systems, everything" she said with a smile just like the ones he remembered on her face "And you're not going to tell anyone, are you?" she asked

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

While Rush was in the middle of his great discover, Camille was interviewing Ginn the youngest of the Lucian Alliance prisoners and by far the most helpful. A Kino was recording this interview in case it needed to be reviewed later as Greer looked on in case Ginn tried something

"Ancient legend said this address led to great understanding" Ginn told her "It could make you as powerful as the gods"

Camille scoffed as she remembered all the problems that dialling this address had caused them before asking "Which gods?"

Ginn looked unsure for a moment before answering "Don't ask me, I assumed it meant a god like power, like the ascended Ancients" she said "If you could control time and space…" but Camille interrupted her

"Wait you think _Destiny_ is capable of that?" Camille asked leaning forward

"I don't know, it's just what the legend said" Ginn told her, her gaze going to Greer before returning to Camille "You asked why the Lucian Alliance wanted the ship so badly. Why are you here?" Ginn asked

"I'm trying to understand your perspective" Camille answered trying to get away from Ginn's question

Ginn looked uncomfortable as she said "You really want me to go over the last twelve or thirteen years, the how or the why of the Lucian Alliance?" before anger started showing itself in Ginn's eyes and she told Camille what she really thought

"They're warlords" her eyes hard with hatred as her own experiences came to the surface "On my home planet they would burn our farms, so we had nothing to eat but the food they supplied. They told our teachers what to teach, children were given weapons and trained to fight" Ginn's eyes started to be filled with sadness as she recalled how she had 'joined'

"Two years ago, I was taken by a gang at gunpoint and told that unless I joined the Alliance Guard that my family was going to be murdered"

Camille now felt sympathy for the younger woman and said "So you're saying that you had no choice in any of this?"

Ginn looked away before saying to Camille "We're not getting enough food"

Camille answered calmly "None of us are, we haven't been able to resupply in some time and our hydroponic gardens aren't able to keep up with the number of crew now"

Ginn looked like she didn't entirely belief Camille but asked "You're saying that we could all starve?" before Camille looked at her very seriously

"Yes"

Ginn looked very scared, frightened as she imaged scenes were she and the other prisoners were ejected into space or put up against a wall and shot and she asked almost fearing the answer she might receive

"What are you going to do with us? You can't keep us locked up in that hold forever"

"That hasn't been determined yet" Camille told her. Camille herself was in two minds about it, they had lost people to the Lucian Alliance on this ship and it would be quite a drain on resources to keep them on-board. But on the other side they had skills that could be really useful and they were unlikely to receive any other reinforcements with the other Icarus planet gone.

"Colonel Young, he's going to make that decision isn't he?" Ginn asked nervously unsure of the man's ideas

"I will have a say" Camille told her

"Some of us have been cooperative" Ginn said trying to build a case to sway her

"Yes you have" Camille said before coming to a decision about her recommendation

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

In the mess hall, Volker was just getting his rations when he saw the small amount Becker was able to give and said

"You have got to be kidding me?" before he moved across the busy room to sit at the same table as Park, Brody, Riley, Eli and Claire who was just picking at her rations "It's hardly worth sitting down" he remarked to them

"Yeah maybe we shouldn't be giving our rations to the enemy" Dunning said annoyed as he walked passed, the man had lost some of his friends to the Alliance prisoners that had broken out and was not in the mood to be kind to them. Claire was barely listening but wasn't sure what to make of that comment. The Lucian Alliance prisoners were people who deserved to eat one side of her said but another side of her wanted to let them starve. She was shocked that such thoughts could come from her

"They're humans beings they have rights too" Riley said being the humanitarian "How we treat prisoners of war says everything about us as a moral and civil society" and Claire who agree with him for the most part felt anger rising before telling him a voice that was cold as ice

"Yeah well obvious someone forgot to give them that memo" Claire told them all who looked at her in surprise at the outburst "We've just lost four men to these prisoners Riley. They're a bunch of murderers and cut-throats. Let me ask you a question, have you ever been a prisoner of the Lucian Alliance?" she said knowing the answer already before continuing "On my first mission for the SGC I was kidnapped by the Alliance and held for over a week before the SGC rescued me. I was given no food and a cup of water a day if I was lucky. They tortured me spare hour, they would have probably raped me if their leader had okayed it" she said to the shocked crowd venom lacing every word. She might believe in treating people fairly and everyone having the right to survive but when it came to the Lucian Alliance her judgement was clouded

Lisa Park who herself spoke up "I don't care how secure they are in that hold. As long as their on-board I just can't sleep when there's a room full of people that would kill me the first chance they got"

As the scientists talked amongst themselves about what they thought should be done with the Alliance prisoners, at a table nearby the six marines that had come aboard recently sat and ate their own rations silently till Corporal Laura Cox spoke up

"So how is everyone settling in?" she asked and instantly regretted it as they all looked up at her and gave her a withering stare

"I was hoping to take my kids camping this weekend, now I'm probably never going to see them again with my own eyes" Gunnery Sergeant Sean Tyler told her and Major Todd their leader added

"I was about to take my daughter shopping for prom dresses now I have to let my sister do that"

Corporal Paul Rexon and Privates Carl Krieger and Selene Howard stayed silent as they just stared before Selene commented

"We're trapped out here sir" she said with poison in every word "How do you think we're doing?" she asked Laura who couldn't answer

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Camille was making her recommendation to Colonels Young and Telford who were both adamant that the Lucian Alliance prisoners were to be dropped off on the next habitable planet but Rush was struggling to deal with the control on the bridge while the apparent ghost of his deceased wife taunted him

"You thought that this was going to be easier didn't you?" she said from one of the stations as Rush struggled to operate the controls "Thought all you'd need to do was turn the key?"

"This ship, its systems were designed to be run by an entire crew" Rush said annoyed as he tried to operate everything by himself

"Well you have a crew" Gloria pointed out but Rush dismissed it

"Yeah a crew that knows what it's doing" he said sarcastically not thinking that his shipmates were capable of understanding the ship as he did

Gloria said "This is what you wanted" reminding him but Rush wasn't properly listening and said

"You know, the Ancients, they never intended for _Destiny_ to operate on its own" he told her unsure of what or who she was before turning around to see her now sitting in the centre chair smiling at him just the way he remembered "They were supposed to come here, in person. There's a point to this mission there had to be" he said as he went to another station

"And yet the first thing you did was turn the auto pilot system back on" Gloria told him with a smug look

"Until I can be sure that I can use each function" Rush told her "I wouldn't want to put the ship in range of something dangerous would I?" he said

"Good plan" she conceded

"You see, right now, I'm trying to understand why _Destiny_ stops at some planets and not others" he said

"Maybe they're just rest stops" Gloria suggested as Rush looked exasperated "Designed to let people get out, stretch their legs, smell the roses, but in the grand scheme of _Destiny's_ greater mission, not very important" she told him

"Certainly environments can change significantly through the years become dangerous even. But that would mean that _Destiny_ had some kind of real-time subspace link to the gates" he said "And look here, this planet we're approaching different classification entirely, not merely locked out but it seems to be non-functional"

"So it seems" Gloria said nodding and Rush nearly shook his head

"So very helpful" he told her

"Do you remember those long walks we used to take in the gardens back home?" she asked him randomly throwing him slightly off balance "Where ever we were we'd always find a quiet place to call home" Rush however had tuned out and made a decision

"That's it, we need food now" he said and deactivated the auto pilot and diverted the ship's course to drop out of FTL within gate range of the planet "This planet we are approaching should be rich in plant life" he said to justify himself

Gloria pointed out something to him "A big red X generally means danger, don't go there right?" she asked him as the aforementioned symbol appeared on the display featuring the planet. Rush however had made up his mind and asked her

"Is this your only purpose, to question my actions?" but Gloria answered his question with a question

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'll take that as a yes then" Rush said before going back to work

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The ship dropped out of FTL, disrupting the crew from whatever they had been doing who silently started praying for a chance to resupply

But the crew were mystified when the gate didn't dial and Eli, Riley and Brody who were in the Control interface room debated about it

"There has to be a reason why _Destiny_ dropped out of FTL" Eli said to Brody while Colonel Young and Telford stood nearby and Rush's voice surprised them when he appeared in the room

"There is" he told them

Young asked him "Where have you been?"

"Busy" Rush told him as Telford looked on suspiciously "We're in range of a planet that may have food and water" but Young told him

"Riley says that there are no gates" so Rush clarified

"Shuttle range" he told them and they understood what he meant so Eli looked at the display and saw it

"Oh look at that" Eli told them

Brody was confused however "Well how does _Destiny_ have data on a planet with no gates on it?"

Rush told him "Well there is a gate on it but it appears to be non-functional"

Riley spoke up "So _Destiny_ just happened to drop out just close enough for us to use the shuttle? That's convenient" he said feeling suspicious but Rush said annoyed at the ungrateful Riley

"Well it's not magic. As I've been doing all along I've been telling _Destiny_ any way I can how short of resources we are"

"Well we'll send a team" Young said not looking a gift horse in the mouth

Telford said "I volunteer to lead it" but Young told him

"Thanks Colonel Telford but I need you here because of your experience with the Alliance prisoners; Major Todd will lead the mission" he told them and Telford looked a bit unhappy but he agreed with Colonel Young

"Okay" Rush said looking at Young gratefully before continuing "I suggest we land close to the gate, try and determine why it's not working, maybe even repair it"

Eli looked unhappy about it and said "Shuttle trip will take over an hour" before he looked at the countdown clock and said "Less than seven hours total is not much time"

Young tried to reassure him "However I we can get the gate operational we'll be able to transport more food and water than the shuttle"

Brody however became the voice of troubles "Two gates at this close proximity cannot dial each other" but Rush getting annoyed again as another one of his colleagues tried his patience said

"This planet may well be in range the next time we drop out of FTL. If we can get the gate active we may be able to dial back later down the line"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Young Okayed the mission and radioed Major Todd to get some people together while he went to see TJ who had been taking care of Carmen in their quarters. A smile came to his face when he saw TJ singing a gentle lullaby to their baby as the mobile Claire had made for them played its gentle tune above her in the crib that Brody and Volker had made. Carman had just drifted off when he came in and TJ looked up her hair still loose around her shoulders and smiled saying

"Hey" and he crossed over to the other side of the room and after pulling the woman he loved into his arms and kissing her deeply and said "Hey back" and the couple carefully sneaked off to next door leaving a radio on in the room like a baby monitor so they could get some alone time

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Major Todd was selecting members for her team and was as nervous as hell. She was not an SG team member and had been assigned to base security before the need for troops had taken her and the others from the SGC on that fateful invasion. But she had been given charge of this mission so she would follow the orders of her superiors. Lieutenant Kathleen Scott was already making the shuttle ready and now she was choosing members to join them on the shuttle. Lieutenant Johansson was taking care of her new baby so Chloe Armstrong the deputy medic and Andrea Palmer a mineralogist and botanist were coming to find potentially useful plants with medicinal qualities. Lieutenant Matthew Scott and Lieutenant Vanessa James were coming too as was Sergeant Greer, Airman Riley, Airman Dunning, Doctor Lisa Park, Doctor Volker and Eli Wallace who had volunteered.

She was just going to get her field gear from the armoury when Lieutenant James came up to her and asked

"Sir if I could make a request?"

Major Kate Todd looked at her and asked

"What is it marine?" stepping into the role of the disciplined officer, Vanessa straightened her back and said

"I'd like to request Claire Williams join us in the shuttle sir"

Kate looked at her sternly and asked "Why?"

"I think she could be an asset to the mission sir" Vanessa said without blinking

"Really" Kate said and considered for a moment before saying "If she's not on the shuttle in twenty minutes then we're going to leave without her understood?"

"Yes sir" Vanessa said feeling glad that the Major had agreed and rushed off to get Claire.

She found the indicated woman in her quarters just lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling and said eagerly

"Claire come on, you're on the shuttle mission"

But Claire didn't even look before she said in the flat emotionless voice that had become her main mode of speech

"No thanks Vanessa" and Vanessa decided if she was going to get her friend moving, some tough love was going to be needed

"That's not a request it's an order so get on your feet" Vanessa said sternly and with a sigh Claire sat up and put on her boots and shrugged on her jacket before putting her hip holster with her pistol in it in its place and followed Vanessa to the shuttle

"Claire what's wrong?" Vanessa asked and Claire sighed again

"I can't stop thinking about it" Claire told her best friend "Every time I close my eyes I can see Kiva, choking on her own blood with the knife I threw imbedded in her throat, the life going out of her eyes. It just won't stop" she said and emotion finally starting to creep back into her voice

"I know how you're feeling Claire" Vanessa told her with images of Simeon vivid in her mind "But you have to try and move on, you've still got a life to live and so much you can give" and Vanessa's words strung home making Claire feel awful about how she had been acting.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

They arrived in the shuttle with time to spare and checked their ear while Kathy warmed up the shuttle; Riley took the co-pilot seat and took off heading for the planet. It was boring as the passengers waited for the shuttle to arrive at its destination but thankfully Kathy eventually told them

"We'll be arriving in a few minutes" and they all sighed in relief that the long trip would soon be over

Suddenly just as they were about to enter the atmosphere they received a radio call from _Destiny_

"Lieutenant Scott this is Doctor Rush do you read?" calling the pilot of the shuttle straight rather than waste time

"This is Kathleen Scott I hear you over" Kathy responded

"You're about to enter an area of atmosphere super-rotation" Rush told them

"Okay what does that mean?" Kathy asked as the people on the shuttle looked on worried

"Well I've done some calculations and will experience some excessive turbulence but nothing the shuttle wasn't built to handle" he said to reassure them but they all now felt concerned

"Okay thanks for the heads up, shuttle out" Kathy said before she switched off the communications.

"Alright everyone listen up, you all heard Doctor Rush we are likely to experience some turbulence so hang on tight this is about to get a little rough" she said to her passengers who braced themselves as best they could

Rush was certainly right about the turbulence, it was terrible they clung to their seats because if they didn't they might have been bounced out of them. Suddenly small explosions started on the roof of the shuttle and a pipe came loose spraying them with a cool vapour as the turbulence intensified. At the front alarms started going off left and right as Kathy struggled to keep the small ship under control. For a moment it levelled out and they all felt relieved but then suddenly the shaking started again worse than ever and then with a horrifying whine the shuttle's engines gave out and the small ship started to plummet to the surface

"What's going on?" Chloe shouted over the alarms and shaking

"We've lost power, I'll have to try and glide her down" Kathy shouted back although she doubted that she could

The out of control ship sped towards a mountain and despite Kathy's best efforts; the wing of the shuttle clipped the side of the mountain and sparks erupted from every surface on the inside of the shuttle forcing the crew to avert their eyes as the sparks came close to their faces. The shuttle continued to plummet to the surface, getting lower and lower to the ground smashing its way through a forest before the ship finally hit the ground with an almighty lurch and continued moving straight forward before it impacted with a cliff and everything went black

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Kathy and Matt were the first to come round, looking around the darkened interior to see devastation as thankfully the cliff had not collapsed on top of them and finally brought the ship to a stop. Claire was next and found that Dunning has collapsed on top of her and as gently as possible she slid out from underneath him and looked around, checking everyone near her and too her relieve everyone had a pulse. The lights flicked all around them and everyone finally started waking up and looked around them. Chloe had a nasty bump on the side of her head and Major Todd and Palmer were both still out cold but in the back of the shuttle there were no serious injuries. Riley was the last to wake and Kathy checked him out, a console and some rocks had collapsed on top of his legs and he was pinned.

"Chloe" Kathy asked and the medic stumbled forward and checked out what areas she could reach on Riley before asking him

"Can you feel your feet?" and Riley said

"No"

Kathy and Chloe shared a worried look before Chloe went to check out Major Todd

"She's sustained a skull fracture and a heavy concussion I think" she said "But if we can get her back to the ship she should be fine" she told the others who nodded, Claire went to work on repairing the door controls at the rear of the shuttle.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Young managed to contact the shuttle briefly and they reported the situation to their mother ship before Matt asked "How's the doors?"

"Almost there" Claire told him and finally she tripped the door lock and it opened showing the rocky outside of the shuttle, those who could clamber out to get some air while they thought about what they were going to do now

"All right" Matt said taking charge "You have a decent idea which direction the gate is in?" he asked them

"We'll figure it out" Volker said and Claire said

"This might help" pulling her Ancient PDA from her belt

"You're PDA?" Matt asked and Claire explained to him

"The Ancient built it as a scanner as well as a PDA, give me the general direction I should be able to find the gate" she told them and Matt nodded and Vanessa asked

"How's Riley?"

"I don't know" he said worried like the rest of them which got worse when Chloe came up to them with blood on her hands

"Are you okay?" Matt asked immediately concerned for his girlfriend when she told them

"Riley's leg is bleeding badly, the console's cut off the circulation preventing him from bleeding out but if we try to move him he's dead in minutes" she told them in a quieter voice so Riley wouldn't hear them

"How do we stop the bleeding?" Kathy asked

"I haven't got anything that could even on the ship" she told them and Claire thought of something

"What if we cauterised it? Chloe" she asked getting the other woman's attention

Chloe asked "What with?"

"Would it stop the bleeding?" Claire repeated and Chloe said

"It should but we haven't got anything to do it with?" but Claire said

"Yeah we do" and she took her energy pistol from its holster and held it in front of them

"Are you crazy you could blow his leg off" Lisa Park said disbelievingly as they all looked at her

"Not if I make some quick changes to the internal circuitry, turn it into a blow torch rather than a blaster" she told them and Matt looked unsure but he turned to Vanessa and said

"Alright LT you take Eli, Claire, Greer and Volker find the gate" he ordered and Vanessa ordered

"Okay let's go" Vanessa told them and she took her small team to go and find the only possible way to return to _Destiny_

They started on the dusty and rocky trail while Claire tried to get a fix on the location of the gate, the air was dry and they stopped for a minute to get a drink from their canteens before Claire suddenly got a reading

"Got it" she told them "Click and a half due south" she said indicating the direction and they arrived after a short walk at the place where Claire had detected the gate only to see nothing rocky pile of stone

"Are you sure it's here?" Volker asked and Claire said after double checking her scanner

"Positive"

"Then where is it" Greer asked and Claire grimaced before saying

"Under our feet" she said "Probably buried in a landslide or something"

"Well that's great" Vanessa said and they could just see the top of the gate poking out of pile

Vanessa called Matt and told him that the gate was buried, so he, Park, Kathy and Dunning all came out while Chloe stayed with Riley to help them dig it free. They all worked their fingers to the bone either using shovels to get rid of the dust and smaller rocks or moving the larger stones by hand. It was slow work and they were running out of time. Claire suggested

"If they're intact we could try rigging the shuttle's power cells up to the gate, double its range so we can dial _Destiny_" she said after moving a rock that was as big as one of _Destiny's_ arm chairs

"What about Riley? Even if we can move him he's probably not going to walk again is he?" Matt asked

Claire had thought of that too and said simply "The bed"

They all stopped working for a moment to look at her and Kathy said questioningly "It's working"

Claire nodded "All the modifications are ready but we haven't tested it yet"

"As Riley as the lab rat" Greer said

Claire gave him a look before getting back to work so the rest of the others did the same

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As night fell only a little of the gate was uncovered and the ship would jump back into FTL soon so they desperately decided to employ C-4 to clear away the rest of the rock

"You know I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that a big enough explosion close enough to a stargate can detonate the super conductive material it's made out of" Eli said nervously but Claire reassured him with her fingers crossed behind her back where he couldn't see

"Don't worry Eli; the C-4 isn't powerful enough to detonate the naquadah"

"Why have you got your fingers crossed?" Volker said who'd seen Claire quickly uncrossed her fingers and said

"I have not got my fingers crossed" she protested and Volker argued

"Yeah you did" and they descended into a mindless squabble before an already nervous Matt said firmly

"Okay flipping the switch now" a Matt said and they all took cover "Fire in the hole" he yelled

The blast was stronger than they had expected and a lot of earth, rock and dust were kicked up into the air, showering them with small shards and clouds of debris. They all peered up over the small mount where they had taken cover and saw the gate now nearly two thirds uncovered and Eli remarked

"That was pretty big" and Claire smiled telling him

"See nothing to worry about" she said while silently praying thank you to whatever deities that were listening "Let's get this gate working"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

An hour of hard labour later and they had managed to finally clear the gate, Park and Volker had gone back with Claire to the shuttle so they while they detached the power cells from the shuttle, while Claire made the necessary changes to her weapon. Major Todd and Palmer were now awake but still in a daze and had been walked to the gate by Vanessa

"Now we're going to need a stretcher to carry Riley to the gate, Chloe maybe you should see to that?" Claire suggested to the young medic who had taken vigil over the wounded and trapped airman

"Sure" Chloe said and with one look at Riley she went off to find something they could use as a stretcher while Claire made adjustments to her pistol

"So you think this can work?" Riley asked her and she gave him a smile that was a bit forced

"Sure, we'll soon have you back on _Destiny_ and right as rain" she said trying to be cheery despite her own doubts as to whether this could work

"Thanks for the effort but I think that maybe its best you focus on getting the others out of here" Riley told her trying to be noble but Claire stopped smiling and looked him straight in the eyes

"Listen you" she said fiercely with a glint in her eye that told Riley she meant every word she said "I'm your friend and I'm not going to give up and you sure as hell better not give up or so help me I will strangle you myself understood?" she said and Riley went her determination and nodded his head

"Understood" and Claire made the final adjustments before Chloe came back with a long, flat and smooth piece of the hull that had broken off during the crash which was long enough to carry Riley on

"Good" Claire told her and she looked over to see Park and Volker had gotten the power cells and she told them "Get to gate, rig it up and tell Matt, Vanessa, Greer and Dunning to get their asses over here, we'll need their help but don't dial the gate till we tell you" she ordered and they nodded before heading off to do just that

Chloe looked at her and smiled, Claire turned to her and asked

"What?" and Chloe told her

"It's good to have you back" and Claire smiled just as the military personnel she'd sent for arrived

"Good now guys I'll need Matt, Greer and Vanessa to hold Riley's arms and legs while Dunning lifts the console and Chloe pulls him out, I'll have to work fast to cauterise the wound and you'd best give him something soft to bite on" she instructed before turning to Riley and warned him "Riley this is going to hurt like a bitch but we haven't got anything for the pain so you'll just have to bite on this" she said showing him the roll of bandages that Chloe handed her "As hard as you can" she said and he nodded as she put the small roll in his mouth looking scared before she contact Eli, Park and Volker at the gate via radio

"_Guys are you ready?"_ she asked and they quickly responded

"_We're ready"_ they said and Claire told them

"_Dial the gate"_ and a moment later Park radioed back saying happily

"_It's working, it's dialling Destiny"_ and so getting the makeshift stretcher ready the people in the shuttle prepared themselves before Dunning lifted the console, Chloe pulled Riley out from underneath the console and onto the stretcher and Matt, Greer and Vanessa took hold of Riley's limbs before Claire activated her makeshift blowtorch and applied it to Riley's leg wounds which had started bleeding profusely

Riley immediately started screaming through the bandage roll and his arms started flailing but the others held him as they did their jobs and within a few terrible moments the job was done, the burn on Riley's leg where the blood had once flowed out of his body was no longer bleeding but they didn't waste any time as Vanessa, Dunning, Greer and Matt picked up the stretcher and as quickly and as gently as they could they made their way to the gate which was already dialled when they arrived with Park and Eli waiting, Volker, Palmer and Todd already having gone through

"They're ready with the bed" Eli told them and without further ado they all walked through the gate and without even stopping once they arrived in the gate room went straight on to the infirmary

"Make a hole" Claire yelled as crewmembers in the corridors quickly moved aside as the stretcher party moved to their destination as Riley groaned in pain. When they reached the infirmary TJ and Brody had the bed warmed up and ready. They as carefully as they dared moved Riley from the stretcher to the bed and TJ programmed the device to heal Riley's internal damage, ruptured skin and burn. A transparent casing sprang out from the sides of the device encasing Riley like a coffin before it was filled with a purple light that was so bright that they had to look away. The light lasted for a minute or so before when they looked back and saw the transparent casing retreat back into the sides of the bed, Riley there, still breathing very quickly but at his legs they saw in amazement that not only was the burn gone, but the cuts and other injuries that he had sustained were also healed. TJ quickly checked the scanner and found that the device had healed Riley back to health

Claire came up to him and asked

"How do you feel?" and Riley smiled at her and said

"Great"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

"So it all went well?" Young asked them after Riley had been carefully moved to a normal bed

"He's probably going to need some physical therapy to get his legs back the way they used to be but otherwise he's in great shape" TJ told him "The strain on his muscles was something that the bed couldn't fix completely but a little physio therapy and he should recover. This bed might yet put me out of the job" she joked

"It will never replace the human touch" said Young smiling back at her before turning to Claire and asking "So can we use the bed full time?"

"Not for the moment, we noticed some problems with the regulation of the radiation exposure. Anyone who used it once could be made worse if they use it again so right now it's one use per person till we get this sorted out" she told him "I'd better get started setting up those new hydroponic gardens now we've got the areas cleared" she said and he smiled before excusing her. She walked down the corridor before calling the personnel she'd need to get the gardens set up feeling much happier than she had in days. Kiva's death might still haunt her but today she had saved a life

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Young had sent the majority of the Lucian Alliance prisoners to the planet but had granted Camille's request that some be allowed to stay on-board. Eight in total while the others were left on the planet; the crew were not happy about them staying on-board but decided to take a wait and see approach as to how this was going to go like their commander had.

The ship leapt back into FTL and the crew rejoiced in pulling Riley back from the jaws of death and had a little party in Brody's bar where Claire sung a duet with Vanessa.

But on the Bridge Rush was staring at the apparition of his wife who sternly looked at him and said

"People nearly died today" and he justified himself

"But they didn't" and Gloria came back at him with

"Only because Claire was able to pull out of her depression and figure a way out"

"So your saying it's all my fault" Rush said and surprised her by saying next "Because it is, I was trying to save lives not just my own and I nearly cost the shuttle crew theirs"

"This database" he continued "Just confirms what I knew all along. This ship was named _Destiny_ for a reason" but when he turned to look at Gloria she had disappeared. He went to sit at one of the stations and relaxed for a while wondering if it was the ship making these 'ghosts' or if he was going crazy. But he was distracted from his musing when the console in front of him started beeping to attract his attention.

The ship dropped out of FTL and in the Interface Room the scientists on duty checked for stargates in range and saw that there were none

Brody said to Volker "It must be like Rush said, another short jump because of the radiation effect" but then they noticed something

"Something just came up on sensors" Volker told Brody and t6hen Rush's voice sounded on the radio

"_This is Rush, meet me on the observation deck"_ he said in his usual demanding way

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire, Vanessa, Young, Eli and Matt all joined Rush, Brody and Volker on the observation deck and Young asked

"What's going on?" he said hoping that this was not the start of yet another problem

"There's an object out there, it's just coming into range" Volker told them. They all walked up to the railing and Young asked

"Well what is it?" and they all peered out and could just see in the distance a large object ahead

"We're not sure, but we're about to find out" Volker told him

"We're heading straight for it" Rush remarked as _Destiny_ got closer and closer to the mysterious object

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

_That was a long chapter to write but I hope you enjoy it_


	24. Chapter 24 Awakening

_I do not own Stargate Universe or any part of the Stargate franchise_

**Chapter 24 – Awakening **

As _Destiny_ moved closer and closer to the mysterious object that was lying in their path, those on the observation deck watched as their minds wondered what on earth they could be dealing with now. Camille and Lisa Park had joined them to look at the oncoming object that was clearly very large if not as big as _Destiny_ itself.

"Do we know what it is?" Camille asked the gathered group

"Not yet" Eli said grimly

"Brody" Young called out on his radio who had ran with Volker to the control room so they might learn more from the ship's sensors. The two men gasping arrived at the control room "Colonel" Brody replied

"Ready weapons" Young ordered not taking any chances given everything that had happened to them so far

"I don't that will be necessary" said Rush standing right next to the Colonel as they got closer but all the same the large triple barrelled main weapon of _Destiny_ deployed from the ship's underside.

Now that they were closer they all got a much better look at the mystery object.

"It's a ship" Camille said

"It looks like _Destiny_" Eli noted "It's got to be of Ancient design" and Claire nodded before adding

"Must be one of the seeding ships that the Ancients sent out ahead of _Destiny_" it was the only reason why a ship of Ancient design could be ahead of _Destiny_

They were interrupted from their musings when the radio sparked to life again "Colonel this is Brody"

"Go ahead" Colonel Young answered

"We're not slowing down, we're on a collision course" Brody reported from the control room

"We're going to hit it" Eli said nervously and made to leave the observation deck when Rush corrected him

"No we're not going to hit it, we're going to dock with it" and sure enough nearly as Rush had said those words _Destiny_ suddenly started slowing down just as they were nearly on top of the other ship and the two ships docked together.

Young led against the railing on the observation deck and asked him "You got any more predictions?"

Suddenly reverting back to his old arrogant self, Rush told him "Yeah I suspect that very shortly you'll be assembling a team to send over there" and he walked off leaving them all to do what he had suggested.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

In the control room, Claire took the time to look at the detailed scans that _Destiny_ had taken of the other Ancient ship. While the seeding ship had the same basic shape as _Destiny_ it was smaller, probably due to it not needing to support a crew. It also didn't have the large pyramid structure on its rear section like _Destiny_ did and it lacked the large main weapon only possessing the smaller energy weapon batteries.

"How did you know we were going to dock?" Young asked Rush who was working at a separate section but Rush shrugged his shoulders and said

"Call it a hunch" but Claire frowned, Rush wasn't the type to have hunches or go for them but she chose to stay quiet for now till she had something to add. Eli and Young looked similarly unconvinced but Rush sighed and said "Given the second ship's similarity in design, our calculated approach, well thought it was rather obvious really"

Claire did see the logic in what he was saying but she couldn't shake the feeling that he knew more than her was telling.

"So what's happening here?" Young asked them all in the control room

"The Seed ship is downloading a large amount of data to _Destiny_ and some data is being sent to the seed ship in turn" Claire reported as she monitored the two-way data transfer

"One of many travelling ahead of _Destiny_" Brody explained "Seeding planets with stargates, gathering information, this one obviously experienced some kind of system fault that it was unable to repair allowing us to catch up with it"

"What kind of data?" Young asked and Rush told him

"Difficult to say at the moment, it'll take a while to translate"

"Well then you had better get started" Young said but Rush had other ideas

"Well, there's plenty of time for that later. For now, this is an extraordinary opportunity and I want to explore it"

"No, I'm sure you do but I need you here, I need to know what kind of information we're receiving" Young said stopping Rush from leaving, Young then commented "No countdown clock"

"Yeah I figured _Destiny's_ going to give us as long as it takes" Volker said and Young asked him

"And how long is that?"

Volker made a conservative estimate "Given the amount of data and the rate of transfer, I'd guess at least two hours"

"Okay" Young said making his decision "Brody, Volker, Claire you are on the away team you have two hours maximum make it quick" and the three of them nodded before leaving the control room to suit up and meet with their military escorts

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

While Rush and Young had another of their little arguments about Rush not going to the Seed ship, Camille was being ambushed by Telford who was supposed to be debriefing Earth about the attack the Lucian Alliance was planning on Earth and what little they had learned from their prisoners. Camille didn't know much at this stage besides that a data transfer was happening and that a team was being sent over to investigate the ship.

At nearly the same time, now armed with weapons and their own science gear, Brody, Claire and Volker had met up with Matt, Greer and Chloe. Matt radioed to the Colonel telling him that they were ready to go and waited for a moment while the control room pressured the docking port allowing them to move over to the seed ship. Volker was operating two Kinos so that they could explore the ship easier and more quickly. They all braced themselves as the heavy airlock door slowly opened and single file they all made their way through the docking collar that had extended and towards the airlock door of the seed ship. Eli confirmed that the seed ship had breathable air and normal gravity before Greer carefully opened the hatch and they waited with baited breath to see what was on the other side.

They could barely see once they stepped through the door, the lighting was so poor, Matt and Greer went first to check it was safe before the rest of them followed. The immediate thing Claire noted was this certainly was not a ship you were met to live on, the corridors if they could be called that were so narrow that the only way to get through was going single file and all along there were pipes, conduits, tubes and gears were all openly exposed. The temperature was very cold and they all shivered a bit but carried on. The Kinos recorded every moment as they slowly progressed further, stepping in pools of industrial liquid that seemed to be leaking in small amounts from the pipes. The atmosphere was enough to put them more on edge than they already were and they all nearly jumped when Young's voice on the radio

"That ship looks to be older than _Destiny_ and it could be in pretty bad shape, proceed with caution lieutenant" and Matt who certainly didn't need to be reminded of that said back

"Yes sir"

The progressed deeper and deeper into the seeding ship, lit largely by their own torches and walking through mists made of steam leaking form more pipes. They had to crouch to get through some of the areas were machinery was left un-covered and blocking most of the small corridors. They learned quickly not to touch the pipes after Chloe brushed her arm against one

"Ouch" she exclaimed as her arm touched the red hot pipe leaving a large red burn on her arm. Rather awkwardly due to the lack of space they wrapped a bandage around it before Chloe insisted they keep going. Claire was surprised that the pipes could be so hot and yet the ship itself was so cold, she guessed that perhaps some of the insulation in the pipes had worn away leaving areas were the heat inside bled out.

Eventually after wandering some more in the darkened corridors they came across a console that was inactive in what appeared to be some version of a control room. Claire immediately went to the console and started up the interface which activated quickly

"Well well well what do we have here?" Greer asked and Brody having reached the same conclusion as Claire said

"Ship's control centre I'm guessing" but Greer responded with a sarcastic

"And I was going for the rec room" but they ignored it and went to work

The system made noises as it started and Matt said "Hey what did the colonel say" as they started to access the ship's systems

"He said we've got two hours so let's make it fast" Volker said.

Claire accessed the ship's computer and realised that most of it was just star charts and stargate location as well as a few bits and pieces she couldn't identify but she started to look for a very important piece of information that she was interested in. She accessed the production computer listing the manufacturing process of making stargates and how to connect them to the network and began downloading it to a portable Ancient hard drive she'd brought while Scott reported to the Colonel.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile Rush had just returned from his disappearance when Colonel Telford pulled Young to the side so that they could talk.

"You sent a team over?" Telford asked wanting to confirm what Camille had told him

"Yeah" Young said not seeing a problem but Telford of course had one

"Without bothering to run it by me?" Telford said and Young frowned when he saw where this was going

"Last time I checked I was the commanding officer of this ship" he reminded Telford

"I wasn't disputing that" Telford said backtracking but Young carried on

"Meaning I don't have to run anything by you or anyone else for that matter"

Telford build up courage before trying again "Look I don't have a problem with you sending a team over there, I'd just appreciate being kept in the loop. Let me help" Telford said hoping to make Young give him some more responsibility so he could prove himself. Most of the crew it seemed hadn't forgiven him after that attempt to dial Earth while inside a star a few months back.

"I don't need your help" Young made very clear before heading off to talk to Camille

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile on the seed ship, Scott and Greer were getting bored just standing around while the three civilian scientists worked, Chloe had returned to Destiny given that Scott insisted that TJ take a look at her arm. Looking at his watch Greer sighed impatiently and Scott asked

"Okay making any progress?"

Claire answered first "I just downloaded the stargate manufacture and tuning data, hopefully if we can get this back to Earth it could advance our understanding of the gates by decades, even allow us to build our own someday" she told them disconnecting her hard drive before looking over to Brody and Volker and Brody just said "Sure" as both scientists were so engrossed in what they were doing

"All right then maybe Sergeant Greer and I can take a little look around" Scott said hoping to get their attention but Brody said

"Knock yourselves out" Claire put her rucksack back on and followed the two soldiers after setting the Kinos on search mode to document as much of the ship as possible

On _Destiny's_ Control centre, Eli was watching the Kinos footage instead of the data transfer like he was supposed to. He glanced back at the display with the data they were receiving from the seed ship and noticed some readings

"Hey am I reading this right?" he asked Rush wanting to confirm what he was seeing as hope came into his eyes

"If you have to ask then my guess would be no" Rush said back without looking but Eli was insistent

"Seriously check out these power readings" as he looked at the amount of energy that the seed ship could store. Lisa Park walked over and looked at the display and after some quick calculations in her head, she started feeling hopeful too

"Oh my god, Doctor Rush you'd better check this out" Lisa exclaimed and Rush sighed mentally, he had hoped that they might not learn that the seed ship had the necessary power capacity to dial Earth, _Destiny's_ mission was more important than getting home at least at this stage.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Back on the Seed Ship as she, Matt and Greer made their , Claire was learning exactly why she should have stayed in the control room with Brody and Volker as she heard Scott and Greer talking about what woman Greer fancied on _Destiny_, she was tempted to make a comment but just tried her best ignore them. She and James sometimes in private tried to guess which of the men on _Destiny_ the other fancied so she guessed they were just as bad as Scott and Greer

"So Chen, Ramirez? That red haired civilian contractor with the…" Scott suggested hoping to get lucky, he knew that Greer had been seeing someone on _Destiny_ but wasn't sure who. Greer decided to stop him guessing by simply telling the man who he considered his best fired on the ship.

"Park" he said without turning to face them, Claire was surprised but Park had developed a bit of a reputation on _Destiny_ for being 'popular' with certain male crewmembers. Sleeping around like that wasn't Claire's thing but she tried not to judge, Lisa was a big girl and what she did in her own time was her business. Claire just hoped that it didn't come back to bite her in the ass at some stage

"Park?" Scott said clearly surprised too and feeling bold Greer added

"Remember that hamstring injury I said I got doing squats? It wasn't doing squats"

Scott looked at him shocked; he'd bought that excuse when Greer had told him

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Young had been spending some time with his daughter when he was called away to the Control room; he made his way annoyed after giving Carman over to TJ. Whatever they had it had better be good

He arrived in the control room and asked the excited looking scientists "You wanted to see me?"

Eli spoke first going a word per second "We checked, we re-checked and we re-re-checked just to be sure" but Eli was interrupted by an annoyed looking Rush

"The Seed Ship has sizable energy reserves"

"How sizable?" Young asked

"With the output of both capacitors in play, enough to power the gate and get us home" Rush said and Young looked stunned for a moment but Rush continued "In order for that to happen, I have to alter certain conduits to open up a transfer channel but that's not something I can do from here"

"Go" Young said as he allowed himself a moment to believe it was actually possible to get them all home, that he might be able to TJ a full wedding in a church and a christening for their daughter, raising her together in comfort and safety on Earth with other children to play with and the sunshine on her face instead of the constant danger and problems of _Destiny_. Both Lisa and Eli with big smiles on their faces ran off to start their own work and just for a moment, Young allowed himself a smile too. No idea as he walked out that something else was on that ship that had its own ideas about using the seed ship.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Rush entered the Seed ship through the airlock and was greeted by Scott and Greer who dragged him away to see something they had found while Claire returned to Destiny so she could check on Chloe. She arrived in the infirmary seeing TJ tickling Carman's feet as the baby girl giggled and made cute baby noises at her mother who kept speaking to her in that strange baby talk that just seemed to happen when someone was around a baby. Claire smiled and came over to join in and started tickling Carman's chin making the little girl squeal before giggling some more and TJ's smile grew bigger as she picked up her daughter and gave her a kiss on the head.

"Hey TJ hey little girl" Claire said tickling Carman's chin some more

"Hey Claire" TJ said "Can I help you?"

"No I'm fine, I just came in to see how Chloe was after that burn she got on the Seed Ship?" Claire asked but TJ looked confused

"I haven't seen her since this morning" and Claire became worried she told TJ thank you and went to her quarters to see if she was there. Chloe was indeed in her quarters and looked guiltily at Claire

"Hey Claire, I know I should have gone to the infirmary" Chloe said but hesitated before continuing "But I didn't need to"

"What do you mean, you got a really nasty burn on your arm it will need to be kept clean or it could easily get infected" Claire told her, surprised at Chloe who had always been diligent about such things in the past

"Perhaps I should show you" Chloe said and she removed the gauze that they had applied to the wound before Claire could stop her only to be shocked to see that the burn had completely healed in the last hour since it had happened.

"Did you use the bed?" Claire asked her still amazed at the complete recovery

"No I just felt a sort of tingling in my arm and when I removed the gauze the burn was gone"

"This is impossible" Claire said

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Claire was going to frogmarch Chloe to the infirmary to find out what was going on with her arm when she was called to the Control Centre by Colonel Young who told her that they had encountered an alien race that had been in stasis on board the seed ship. They had attacked the scout party and despite their presence they were going to try and use the power reserves of the seed ship to try and dial Earth. Chloe's situation temporally left Claire's mind while she worked with the other crew to make the preparation, she waited in the gate room with everyone else as per Young's order only for the aliens to reverse the power transfer so they could drain Destiny of its reserves. Colonel Telford had stayed behind on the Seed Ship to try and stop it. When it looked like the aliens were going to succeed suddenly the transfer was interrupted and the two ships separated.

The Lucian Alliance prisoners were calming down as TJ gave them some blankets and some pillows from spare quarters to make their stay in the holding room more comfortable. But Claire was suspicious of the sudden separation of _Destiny_ from the Seed ship, the command to do so came from on-board _Destiny_ somewhere and definitely not the main computer. She decided to set up a search program so that if any strange system commands like that happened again she could trace them back to a physical location. Something was going on here that she didn't quite see…yet

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Sorry, a bit rushed at the end but there wasn't a lot for Claire to do_

_Good or bad, please review and let me know_


	25. Chapter 25 Cloverdale

_I DO NOT OWN Stargate Universe_

**Chapter 25 – Cloverdale**

It was only two days after the seed ship incident and the crew was settled back into their regular routine. The ship hadn't dialled any new planets and the crew now had enough food stored from their gardens in the stasis locker to allow a less severe rationing system. So far Claire's program had yet to detect any mysterious commands so she decided to wait and see.

The previous days had been tiring as they discovered that Chloe had been infected with some kind of alien pathogen by the blue aliens. All the tests for the virus in Rush and Claire had turned up negative and Rush had tried to treat it with the use of the Interface chair, whether or not this had work was yet to be seen, Claire was planning to use the Healing bed to destroy the infection if this failed . Eli's mother had come to _Destiny_ so after Wray had convinced their superiors to allow it so he could convince his mother to continue her HIV treatments.

But right now on _Destiny_ it was quiet, the whole crew was unconscious, not asleep unconscious. People lay on the floor, draped over tables or consoles all out cold but all their minds had become linked together and were all sharing the same dream

**Dream world….Cloverdale **

On the bus coming into town, two passengers still in marine uniform say. The lieutenant called Matthew Young and the Sergeant Ronald Greer. Matt looked out of the window to see the houses around them, he said to his best friend without looking feeling excited

"We're coming into town"

Greer looked around to see the houses out of the windows of the bus and asked

"How can you tell?"

"Hey it beats the hell out of our digs in Kandahar don't it" Matt feeling happier to be back home. They both laughed before Greer said

"I wouldn't miss it for the world brother"

"Well I appreciate it. I do" Matt said happy that his friend was here with him for the biggest day of his life. They were interrupted when the driver called out

"Cloverdale" and both men went to get up. They grabbed their bags and waited for the bus to stop before getting off into the largely deserted street. Matt looked around and said

"Damn I thought my dad might have been here" and he thought about how he was going to get to his house when the bus pulled away revealing Everett Young with Eli Wallace next to a small red jeep on the other side of the street. Matt turned around and saw them now that his view was unobstructed he said happily moving to cross the street to join them

"There they are. Hey guys" and as he moved quickly into the road before anyone to shout out a warning a car screeched as its brakes applied but not fast enough to stop the vehicle which slammed into Matt sending him to the ground. They all rushed over but thankfully the hit had been minor and Matt was only a little bruised and dazed. Everett, his father leaded over him and called out to bring him back to his senses

"Matthew, Matthew. What the hell is the matter with you?" but still dazed Matt couldn't answer back just yet

"Sorry" the driver of the car said as he got out. Adrian Brody, owner of the local bar came over to see if everything was alright "I'm sorry he just ran out in front of me"

Matt finally stopped seeing double and managed to answer back

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine" Matt said and Brody breathed a sigh of relief before saying

"Thank god" and Brody, Greer and Everett helped Matt to his feet while told him

"Lucky for you" and Matt said

"No I was just being stupid" and Eli handed Matt his hat

Everett reassured Brody "Don't worry Mr Brody at this age they bounce. Are we still on for the" Everett said not wanting to say more within ear shot of Matt and Brody told him

"Of course, of course"

Everett told Eli, Matt and Greer "Hey we're taking up the whole road here guys" as Brody got back in his car and Everett moved out of the road while Eli told Matt

"Hey if you guys end up with any insurance issues I've got the whole thing here on tape" gesturing to his camera before Matt said jokingly

"I kind of wish you didn't Eli" before they all moved over to the jeep and out of the road when Everett took notice of Greer

"So you must be Ronald" before Matt introduced him

"Oh, dad sorry, this is Ron he's going to be my best man"

Greer shook Everett's hand when it was offered saying "Pleasure to meet you sir"

Everett waved off the formality "You call me Everett, your family now, and this is Chloe's brother Eli" he added introducing the brother of the bride who shook Greer's hand. They loaded up the car and all made their way back to Everett's house where they were welcomed by a young blonde woman holding a baby Everett introduced them to Greer

"Ronald this is Tamara the town doctor and my wife and our new daughter Carman" he said

Tamara smiled at them, the baby cooing her arms before saying "Hi" Matt felt uncomfortable given that his stepmother was younger than he was but seeing how happy his dad was he waved his doubts aside and greeted her with a friendly kiss on the cheek before his dad gave him a big hug

"Welcome home son" before they were interrupted by a voice from the stairs

"Hello stranger" and Matt looked over to see his sister Katy Young standing at the banister before walking over to give him a hug of her own before he introduced her to Greer

"Hey Ron this is my sister Kathy, she's a pilot and does a lot of crop dusting for all the local farms around here"

"Pleasure" Ron said shaking Kathy's hand before Matt turned to his father and asked

"Is she coming or couldn't she make it?"

"Are you kidding she wouldn't miss it for the world" Everett told him and just as he said it there was a rumble of a motorcycle engine outside pulling up, Matt and Greer peered through the front room window to see a black motorbike pull up. The rider got off her ride before taking off her helmet revealing the vibrant red hair that Matt knew so well. Greer could only look at the leather clad woman as she walked up the drive way and into the house

"Matt good to see you" the biker chick said before pulling him into a tight hug before Matt pulled away to introduce her to Greer

"Ron this is my other sister Claire down from Chicago where she works for this big research firm"

"So you must be Ronald Greer, thanks for keeping my idiot brother alive out there" Claire said warmly to Greer who shook her hand

"So Ronald make yourself at home, let me grab that. You're in Claire's old room and Claire you're sharing with Kathy" Everett said taking their bags off them so they could all sit down while they waited for Chloe while Everett got them beers from the fridge

"So what's the plan?" Matt asked excited

"I say…You get married, you start a family, you grow old, and you die happy" Everett said as he handed the beers out before they all took a swig

"Okay well, I thought you guys might uh" Matt started to say when his dad asked him

"What?"

"I don't know throw a party or something?" Matt said hopefully when they were interrupted by a knock at the door and Everett shouted for them to come in. An Asian woman in her early thirties entered wearing a shirt and jeans

"I heard the local boy was back in town" she said with a smile on her face

"Ron this Camille Wray the major of this fair town but who lives with us normal folk" Everett said offering her a beer which she took and punched her long time neighbour on the shoulder

"Don't listen to him, I'm just an ordinary woman doing her bit for the town" she said opening the bottle and took a swig "It's good to see you Matt" she said to him before there was the sound of the door opening and in walked the bride to be, Chloe Wallace. At the sight of her Matt got up and walked over to her before taking her in his arms and kissing her deeply

"Oh, I'm so sorry I couldn't be there to meet you" Chloe said after they broke their kiss "The train was too long after I changed my shoes"

"Okay" Matt said before kissing her again

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

That evening Matt and Chloe went out to see a movie at the local cinema while the rest of them planned Matt's bachelor party and Chloe's hen party. Val the local babysitter had agreed to watch Carman while they all went to the party

While Matt was at Brody's with his friends getting drunk and having a good time Greer especially with the local school teacher Lisa Park, Chloe was enjoying herself with all her friends as they watched the stripper doing his act. After he was finished Claire said to Chloe

"I'm glad to have you as part of the family" before Kathy added

"You bet"

"Thanks guys" Chloe said deeply touched at her two future sisters in law welcoming her so warmly

"Hey less serious guys this is Chloe's last night of freedom so let's have some fun" Vanessa said, she would have been waitressing at Brody's if Chloe hadn't invited her out. And they all got up and not a little bit drunk got up to get back to the dance floor

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Not allowed to drive on their own, Chloe, Claire, Kathy, Tamara and Vanessa all got a lift back to Everett's with Vanessa crashing with Claire and Kathy for the night. Just as they arrived Sheriff Telford and his deputy Varro dropped off the very drunk Matt, Everett, Eli and Greer.

When they woke up in the morning they all had a hangover but Claire and Kathy went to work in the kitchen after waving Vanessa off after her boyfriend Varro picked her up. They cooked a big breakfast for everyone who all in varying states of dress all drifted into the living room

"Okay everyone eat up" Claire said as she handed out cups of much needed coffee

"Thanks" Matt said as Kathy passed him a second cup "Today we get the suits, don't want to be hung over for that"

"Good thinking" Eli said as he nursed his head.

Once they had all eaten they split up to finish all the preparations for the wedding, Claire and Kathy were going with Chloe to meet up with Vanessa to get their bridesmaids dresses for the wedding

"Do I have to wear this?" Claire said to Chloe, indicating the simple green satin dress that Chloe had chosen. It was form fitting skimming all of Claire's, Kathy's and Vanessa's curves.

"Claire it's my wedding" Chloe said anxiously before Claire said reluctantly

"Alright but just for you"

Chloe smiled as the tailors, Mrs Todd and her assistant Selene Howard put the finishing touches before turning to them and saying "Their perfect"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After Matt had gone to get his suit fitted, he had gone to see the town's Justice of the Peace, Nicolas Rush. Matt pressed the intercom outside the office and Rush's voice answered

"Hello"

"Hi, I'm Matthew Young. You're marrying me tonight" Matt said backtracking when he realised what he had said "I mean me and my girlfriend"

"I wasn't confused, come one in" Rush said on the other side of the intercom and the door clicked open, allowing Matt to enter. The young man walked into Rush's office who was sitting at his desk

"So, uh, I guess we just want to go for the usual" as Matt sat down across from Rush

"The usual" Rush said looking at Matt with disbelief

"Wedding vows. You know dearly beloved…" Matt clarified but Rush interrupted him

"I know what wedding vows are"

Both gave an uneasy laugh before Matt said

"Look I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not all here today" he admitted

"So" Rush said "To what do we owe this, uh partial presence? Are you having doubts about what you're entering into?"

Matt looked startled "What about marrying Chloe? No, I love her, I'm just a little…hung-over"

"Like father, like son" Rush remarked

Matt instantly jumped to his dad's defence "My dad is a great man" before continuing on "Well we err, talked about it me and Chloe and we decided just to go with regular vows they're all good"

Rush clapped his hands "Traditional vows it is" before putting his feet on the desk considering the meeting over

Matt got up to leave but nervously turned around and asked "Is that it, isn't there anything else to talk about?"

"I don't know is there?" Rush asked looking up

"I'm scared" Matt admitted "About everything; the wedding, settling down, having a family all of it"

"Well you know. I'm not a great man Matthew" Rush told him "But I can tell you, that fear well it's just one of those things in this world, that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are truly alive. And that I can tell you that you are alive until your dead"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Later on in the rented hall, all the decorations were up and Everett was welcoming everyone in, just like David Telford his friend

"David glad you could make it" Everett said welcoming the sheriff in with a hug

"Wouldn't have missed it" David told him "How's your boy doing?"

"Oh, he's fantastic" Everett said "You know white as the plastic man on the cake but that's just nerves" he added and they gave a small laugh before David went to sit and Eli and his girlfriend Ginn arrived

In the room off to the side, Matt was pacing as the big moment grew closer, Greer smiled at his friend's antics

"You'll wear out those flashy new shoes of yours if you don't slowdown" Greer told him before Matt finally stopped pacing and told his friend in a frenzied voice

"I just can't stop thinking about it man. I mean what if I screw up, what if I faint?" and would have continued rambling if Greer hadn't grabbed him by the arm and said

"Hey that's crazy talking, now you listen you're going to be fine"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When Matt had taken a few calming breathes he and Greer stepped out to the altar and waited for the bride to appear. His dad watched from the front row with Tamara and baby Carman, Ginn stood at the side with Eli's camera capturing every moment on film. Camille and David sat on the other side of Everett smiling at him when Riley the church organist started playing 'Here comes the bride'

The entire hall all looked at the other end of the church hall where Chloe clad in the most beautiful white dress it took Matt's breath away started with Eli holding her arm making her way down the aisle. The corset was outlining her slim waist and the satin skirt fell to her feet trailing behind her a short way where her bridesmaids walked behind. The veil was thin and pulled back showing her face

Matt was speechless till she arrived at the altar and he took her hand before staring into her eyes

"Dearly beloved" Rush started "We are gathered here today in the face of this company to join this man and this woman in matrimony. It is not to be entered into lightly but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly"

Rush continued "Marriage is the union of husband and wife in heart, body and mind. It is intended for their mutual joy and for their health and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity. Through this union, Matthew and Chloe make a commitment to embrace their dreams, realize their hopes and too accept each other's failings"

"We are here today to witness this occasion that marks the celebration of love and commitment with which this man and this woman begin their life together. If any person should know of any reason why they may not be joined together, then let them speak now or forever hold their peace"

After a brief silence Rush continued turning to Matt "Do you Matthew, take Chloe to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honour and keep her in sickness and in health?"

"I do" Matt said without hesitation, his doubts suddenly vanishing

Rush then turned to Chloe "Do you Chloe, take Matthew to be your husband. To love, honour and keep in sickness and in health?"

"I do" she answered

"Then in the name of the power vested in me I pronounce you man and wife, for as long as you both may live. You may kiss the bride" Rush announced and with even blinking Matt pressed his lips against Chloe's before the world dissolves around them

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Back on _Destiny_, the entire crew started waking up from whatever position they were in and all groaned from the massive headache they all seemed to nursing. Before long they realised something had happened; that they had all fallen asleep at the same time and all had had the same dream. Colonel Scott called together the senior staff to discuss it

"Well I'd like an explanation if there is one" he said to those gathered

"We all had the same dream didn't we? About Cloverdale, Lieutenant Scott and Chloe's wedding?" Major Todd asked

"Yes I've spoken to twenty different people and they all confirm they had the same dream" Camille added

"Well clearly an outside force influenced our dreams and linked us together so we could share the experience" Rush said

"What could do that?" Eli asked "I don't like the thought of someone being in my dreams"

"What have you been dreaming about?" Greer asked and Eli went bright red causing them all to laugh before Claire suggested

"Some kind of mental interface perhaps. Perhaps the ship itself"

They all turned to her in shock so she explained herself

"Well there are no unusual phenomena in the local area so the only suspect is the ship itself. It has an AI with capabilities that we don't yet fully understand. Maybe it can induce a low level telepathic field to join our minds together while we are asleep and guide our dreams"

"How can a computer mess with our heads and why would it do it?" Young asked

Claire speculated "To learn about us perhaps. The ship does realise we are here, stops to planets have only happened since we have arrived"

"Well can we stop it happening again?" Major Todd asked

"Until we gain control of the ship, probably not" Claire told them

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Rush on the bridge later after meeting confirmed Claire's suspicions

"So you are testing us" he said to the ship "But why something like Cloverdale?"

"Perhaps to learn the crew's habits" a voice sounded to his right and he saw the image of his deceased wife sitting there "About their inner doubts and what make them tick?"

"So to do it, it infiltrates our dreams and puts us all in a Midwestern town" Rush said sarcastically but Gloria wasn't done yet

"Points to Claire though, she figured it out. Maybe she'll figure you out"

"Unlikely" Rush said

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_I have to admit, I thought about writing Matt and Chloe waking up with wedding rings on but maybe that would be going too far_


	26. Chapter 26 Trial & Error

_I do not own Stargate Universe_

**Chapter 26 – Trial and Error**

The ship cruised through FTL on its long journey, carrying its crew towards its mysterious destination. The said crew went on living their lives such as they were, Claire was in the control room with Vanessa operating the repair bots having just returned from Earth after attending a meeting about the Subspace capacitor. The prototype of her design had just completed the testing phase on the _Daedalus_ now under the command of Colonel Sobel and was a complete success and once enough were constructed one would be fitted to each of Earth's starships. She had also witnessed Colonel Steven Caudwell the former commander of the _Daedalus_ being promoted to General to assume the new position of Space fleet commander, the man in charge of all of Earth's space fleet. She had worked with Homeworld personnel to establish plans for the expansion of all Earth outposts now that they could create nearly all the resources required. The predicted moaning about the restrictions that she, Jennifer, Sam and Daniel had built into the beam replicator as it was becoming known had of course been the source of tension but she and the others had refused point blank to remove them and explained their reasons. Their argument had been accepted, albeit reluctantly before she had returned to _Destiny_.

Right now Claire was directing them in repairs to the power conduits and storage buffers, Vanessa on the other hand was working on something else when she was finished she presented it to Claire who stopped her work for a moment

"I thought we could install this capacitor in the weapon batteries, it absorbs the excess heat that the machinery creates and channels into the next shot. Not a huge increase but roughly 25% tops and with the upgrades your devising it could seriously increase the ship's teeth" Vanessa explained to her best friend who looked at the detailed schematics Vanessa had created

"This is brilliant Vanessa, we could even adapt this to the shield emitters as well if and when we find the parts to build it"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Colonel Young meanwhile was not having such an easy night, TJ was on duty and Carman was with her in the infirmary so he was alone in his quarters. He was tossing and turning as he was confronted with a nightmare

He dreamt that he was playing with Carman in their quarters when the ship had dropped out of FTL and almost immediately attacked by the blue aliens known as the Nakai. They had demanded that Chloe be handed over, refusing the demand the crew had opened fire and begun a fight that had resulted in the destruction of the ship.

He was still a bit shaken when he arrived at the weekly staff meeting. He listened to Claire and Lieutenant James report their continuing success in repairing the power conduits to increase the energy storage capacity of the ship but his mind lingered on the dream that he'd had

"I'd like to begin letting Ginn start work with the science team. I thought that Eli and she could work on perfecting the dialling Earth while _Destiny_ recharges inside a star" Camille said when it was her turn to speak, Eli perked up at the idea of working with the helpful and admittedly beautiful Lucian Alliance technician

Claire forced down her initial reaction to the proposal which was rejection before asking in as calm a voice as he could manage "Are you sure she can be trusted?"

Camille saw the hard glint in Claire's eye and recognised her opposition to the plan but as Claire hadn't rejected it out of hand answered

"She's been the most helpful of the prisoners we took and she has provided a lot of details about the planned Lucian Alliance attack on Earth. I don't see any reason why not to allow a small amount of freedom in return"

Claire stayed quiet for a moment, everyone looking on as they held their breath waiting for her reaction before she shrugged and said

"If Eli is okay with it then I won't get in the way" before she got up and left before she changed her mind. Her hatred of the Alliance was burning just beneath the surface and the thought of one of them on her team repulsed her. Twice now she had been tortured by the Alliance admittedly one of those times it had been in another universe but the principle of the thing stayed the same. She decided to have a few words with Ginn herself to lay down some ground rules. She arrived outside the room that Camille had put Ginn in and the marine on duty looked at her with surprise

"I want to speak to her" Claire told him and he hesitated for a moment but as one of the senior members of the staff, Claire did have the authority to enter, so he stepped aside so Claire could press the door release and enter.

The other red head was sitting on her bed, eagerly awaiting the results of Camille's proposition and hoping to be allowed to work, she was surprised when the other girl just year or so older than her entered. Ginn said

"You're Claire Williams aren't you? I read some of your work" but stopped speaking when she saw the cold look on Claire's face who then started talking

"Camille has got you an opportunity to prove yourself working with Eli to dial Earth while the ship recharges within a star" Claire told her and Ginn was secretly happy to be working with Eli. He was cute she thought to herself and the experience of having him as a boyfriend in that dream world the ship had created made her blush

Claire however told her "I will allow this but if you mess about, if you try to use Eli or cause any trouble in the slightest. I'll see to it that you are left on the next habitable planet" and Ginn almost shuddered at the hard look Claire was giving her, knowing that she meant every word

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Young meanwhile was telling James to focus her attention on repairs

"I want you to get the repair robots working on repairing the weapons" Young told the female marine who was now operating the systems in the control room

"But what about the other repairs sir?" Vanessa asked, they had a schedule for repairing systems and he was jumping weapons ahead in the queue

"On hold till we're ready" Young told her

"Ready for what sir?" Vanessa asked

"Just ready lieutenant, get started on it now" he ordered abruptly leaving a worried Vanessa James behind as he stalked out

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The Colonel settled down to sleep again after drinking a large swig of Brody's moonshine, trying to dismiss his earlier nightmare as just a bad dream. But when he finally fell unconscious it all began again.

He arrived in the control room just as the Nakai ships arrived again demanding that they hand Chloe over. This time instead of trying to fight them, he had Rush channel all the ship's power into the shields hoping to wait it out till they could jump back into FTL. At first this seemed to be working, then six more alien motherships arrived and added their firepower to the other ships overwhelming the shields and destroying _Destiny_.

Waking with a start, Young got up and headed over to Camille's quarters, he knocked on the door and Camille opened the door, still sleepy after being woken so suddenly surprised to see Young there.

"Colonel" she said buy Young interrupted her

"Well, you wanted to be a shrink. Now here's your chance" he told her

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" she asked still drowsy

"I think I might be going insane" Young told her straight. A bot stunned by his declaration Camille stood aside so he could enter her room and closed the door

"You've been drinking" Camille said smelling it on his breath

"That's not the problem, that's just one of the symptoms" he told her while pacing around

"No, what I'm saying is that this might not be the best time" Camille told him not wanting to have to deal with the ravings of a drunk and hoping to get back to bed

"Yeah right" Young said with a bitter chuckle "Well, I, uh…" he said after clearing his throat "I have been having this recurring dream, only it's more than a dream. It's real, it's as real as it gets" and he sat down while Camille realising she wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight asked

"Okay. What's it about?"

"The aliens from the other galaxy, they catch up to us. They surround the ship and demand that I turn over Chloe. And, now, the first time, I try to fight them off the ship gets destroyed. The second time, I go into a defensive shell but the ship still gets destroyed" he told her then Camille interrupted him

"Wait a minute" she told him "Is this why you ordered James and her team to work on the weapons grid?" she asked as she sat beside him "Because of this dream?" She had a hard time believing that a man like the Colonel who was normally so composed would change ship policy on the sake of dream.

"Listen. There is something else going on here" He insisted "I mean this is like no dream I've ever had before. I mean I can feel the floor under my feet. I can smell the sweat of people around me Camille"

Camille just stared at him for a moment not knowing what to think before telling him "Yeah, yeah its no-win scenario. It seems like he only way out would be for you to do the thing that you don't want to do"

But Young dismissed it as he thought what he could do differently "No. I don't think it's that simple"

Camille tried a different tact "Have you even spoken to Chloe since you confined her in her quarters?"

"No" Young admitted as depression established a deeper hold on his mind

"Well maybe it might be a good place to start" Camille suggested

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Young went to see Chloe after that, the young woman wasn't as upset with him as he had feared and seemed to understand his position, considering what he might have to do later. He admitted that he felt horrible locking her up but she admitted to him in turn that she had been feeling very sorry for herself at first but given the fear that she had seen in some people around her she'd realised that it was for the best. The only really horrible moment of the exchange was that they both realised that if they couldn't find a cure soon the Colonel would be forced to remove her from the ship to protect the rest of the crew.

Elsewhere Eli was being encouraged by Greer to make a move on Ginn, Eli asked how Greer had guessed that he was thinking about it when he had only been watching them for two days. Greer scoffed saying that he had realised that there was something there after watching the two of them for ten minutes and adding that this was probably the best chance that Eli would have out of the women on this ship for Eli thanked him sarcastically. Greer told him that he would arrange to be elsewhere later on so the Eli and Ginn would be alone but at the thought of being alone with the gorgeous red headed Lucian Alliance technician made Eli nervous although he agreed.

Meanwhile in the mess hall in the corner not far from Eli, Private Selene Howard was picking at her food her face was depressed with life in her dull brown eyes. Lieutenant Kathy Scott had just picked up her own rations before walking over to the younger soldier and asked

"Hello can sit with you?" Selene looked up and gave a half-hearted shrug which Kathy took as an invitation to sit down. Kathy started tasting her own food which of course tasted bland as always before looking up to say to the younger woman "We haven't been formally introduced yet, my name is Kathy Scott and you're Selene Howard right?"

"Yeah that's me" Selene said while looking at her spoon containing more of the uninviting yellow paste without even taking any real notice of what her superior officer was saying before Kathy decided to get her attention by taking the spoon out of Selene's hand and putting it back on the bowl making Selene's eyes in a surprise meet her own.

"Now maybe we can speak properly" Kathy said with a bit of edge in her voice making Selene realise that she had to pay attention to the conversation. Selene sighed before resigning herself to the moment

"Hello sir my name is Private Selene Howard, United States Marine Corps"

Kathy smiled now that she had the private's attention and asked "well then let's get to know each other, you know like normal people do. I am a Lieutenant in the air force and I have a brother Lieutenant Matthew Scott. How about you do have any family?"

Selene's face darkened as she answered "Yeah I have a father that is a Colonel at Homeworld command, he's been at the SGC since the beginning and he's a personal buddy of General O'Neill. My mother is a major in the army or was she is retired. And I have three brothers and they're in the military too; one is in the air force assigned to an airfield in Iraq, another is in the Navy on board an aircraft carrier as a fighter pilot and the third is going through the Colorado Springs military Academy. I joined up with the Marines just over a year ago and after one tour in Afghanistan I was assigned to the SGC"

Kathy nearly frowned, soldiers were only usually assigned to the SGC after they had a considerably longer history with the military where they could prove themselves honourable and loyal and to demonstrate their skills as only the very best where invited to join the SGC. So she decided to ask Selene "How come you got assigned to the SGC after only one tour?"

Selene only shrugged before saying "I think my dad must've pulled strings to get me assigned there so early, he always wanted to someone in family to carry on the tradition that he started when he began working at the SGC and since I'm in the Marine Corps it was easy to get me assigned there than one of my brothers. Mind you I have great service record" she said somewhat sarcastically "one tour and I have already got more citations on my record for valour and performance under fire than most Marines double my age. So suppose it wasn't difficult for him to get me assigned"

"So do you enjoy it?" Kathy asked curious

"I suppose so" Selene said reluctantly her own feelings mixed "it's just that I never had a choice for what I wanted to do with my life. Got military in the blood going back so many generations we've lost count; all my grandfathers served in the Second World War all across the world in every theatre, and my great-grandfathers served in the First World War before that. It's a tradition in our family even for the women to have served in the military or supporting the military in some capacity so I was given a choice of which branch I wanted to go into the not if I wanted to go into the military at all." She looked up to see Kathy listening intently paying her full attention before continuing "and it makes matters worse than I'm good at it. All my life I was trained for this and my dad said that I have 'natural talent', I always beat my brothers at exercises and I can out think and shoot them in those war-games my dad and my mom used to make us play"

Kathy stared intently for a moment before asking "And what would you have liked to do?"

Selene's face became very tense for a moment before relaxing and she said "That's the problem I don't know what else I would have done. At school and at the academy I always got top grades in whatever I did but all I knew or even thought about was the military even if it was how I wanted to avoid it. I just can't seem to get away from it"

Kathy looked her straight may I before saying to her seriously "Then maybe you shouldn't try. You found something that you genuinely good at and it seems to me half the time enjoy it. Maybe they didn't fight it so often it wouldn't be a burden"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Colonel Young was nodding off in his office before he was confronted with another horrible dream. Again they were confronted with many alien warships and this time he did the one thing that he swore to himself he would never do. He surrendered Chloe, Scott tried to attack him but Korea prevented it and for a while it seemed to work till the aliens returned and attacked and destroyed the ship again. After he woke he put his head in his hands and just stayed like that silently he honestly couldn't take any more of these nightmares when regardless of what he did the ship was destroyed and the people under his command were killed. He went to Brody's bar and took a swig of its home-made moonshine when TJ arrived about to pick up the moonshine as some disinfectant when she saw the state of and her instinct immediately realised something was wrong. When she asked concerned about the man she loved he told her

"I just can't win" he said as TJ looked on confused "Regardless of what I'd do _Destiny's_ destroyed if I hand over Chloe it destroyed, if I fight it still destroyed and even if I just defend it is still destroyed"

"You mean these dreams you've been having?" TJ asked really concerned about him now and sat next to him taking his hand

"There not dreams" he insisted as these visions of the ship's destruction continue to haunt him draining his will "I'm falling apart and I can't you protect you or Carmen" he said with true despair in his voice. TJ without another word took his hand and led him back to the quarters.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As Eli finally made his move on Ginn, the ship suddenly stopped and refused to move would no countdown clock as it normally would. Scott reported to Colonel Young at the Colonel refused to leave and much to Scott's own confusion Young told him to figure it out on his own. So Scott went to Major Todd who arrived at the interface room to take control

"Alright then let's get some answers. Have Williams and James check out the engines to see if there is a malfunction the rest of the science team I want to trawl through the database see we can find out why the ships stopped us here" Major Caitlin Todd told them all.

As Claire and the Vanessa in space suits went through the areas of the engineering sections that they could access Claire gave Vanessa her next project

"Vanessa I'm hoping you can come up with an upgraded targeting program for our defence batteries, you might noticed that they don't track targets particularly well can seem slow to anticipate movements from enemy fighters." Claire's set these specific goals for Vanessa because she wanted her to develop her new skills that she had inherited from parallel lives in the real world. So far the Marine had risen to meet every challenge that Claire had set her so this particular test was intended to exercise her computer skills.

"Sure a piece of cake, but they might have got a kind of date" Vanessa told her and Claire looked up surprised

"A date who with?" Claire asked curiously wondering who had managed to get the brunette Marine to go out with them. After the mess with Matthew Scott Vanessa hadn't seemed interested in the opposite sex but that apparently changed. Vanessa looked sheepish at the floor for a moment before saying quietly

"Varro" Claire stared at her for a moment before asking "Who?"

"He's one of the Lucian Alliance prisoners" Vanessa admitted and Claire's face through the visor of her helmet could be seen to become very calm perhaps too calm.

"Claire?" Vanessa asked and Claire just stared her in the eye through their visors for yelling so loud that almost deafened Vanessa

"You of all people dealing one of them! Their murderers and thieves Vanessa why would you even want to be near them?" Vanessa answered back yelling in the same tone

"Well maybe if you spend some time with them instead of judging them you might see their not all that bad. Ginn is a sweet kid and Varro is probably the sweetest guy I've ever met don't judge them on Kiva" Vanessa told her firmly shutting Claire at the immediately she thought back to the sweet red haired girl that she had met early this morning and admitted to a self privately that she was probably a very gifted young mathematician and maybe even a genius with some more learning.

'You could teach her' Claire thought to herself and she now felt horrible of judging the young woman so harshly over her past when Claire didn't even have the courage to admit her own to her friends.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Eli eventually realise why the ship had stopped. He told his gathered audience that the ship was currently running battle drills and Camille realised from his description of the drill that it mirrored exactly the dreams that Colonel Young had been having. She rushed to as quarters to tell him they had found out what the dreams were and that Destiny seemed to be messing with his dreams only for him to tell her that he thought that the ship was telling him that he wasn't fit to be a commander anymore. After Scott questioned Chloe she admitted that she didn't remember anything of what happened when she blacked out so she told them it is possible she might have signalled the aliens and they could be following them. Major Todd began making preparations to Colonel Young refused to return to command after telling Vanessa James Scott to begin assembling the defence teams and the science team members to ready to ship systems for battle in case the aliens were on their way she was taken aside by Rush and Wray told her that she had to stay in command and that Colonel Young was failing test ship seemed to be setting for him. Major Todd decided while the preparations were underway to go and visit her own superior officer.

She didn't wait for us permission to enter cheat simply open the door and walked in to find the Colonel dishevelled on the bed. He clearly been drinking and looked a complete mess when Major Todd in her Marine way told him

"Get out of bed usually easy bum" picking up a clean version of uniform is throwing at him "You're needed in the interface room now"

"Not now major" Colonel Young told putting the uniform aside and trying to roller got back to sleep when the major went up to the bed and threw him on the floor

"No you don't get a choice to wallow in your own self-pity anymore, this ship needs you I can't handle the responsibilities of command of this ship too long I'm just Marine. You have a commander this ship needs is whether you want it or not." Major Todd told him firmly pulling to his feet so he would look straight in the eye when his eyes suddenly became more focused

"It all adds up you know" Colonel Young told her "The deaths, the weight of responsibility all the crap"

"This ship didn't stop moving till you started doubting yourself" Major Todd told him "Maybe if you start believing in yourself again maybe we might get moving. Making those decisions not me not yet not Scott, it's not Wray it's you."

"Rush could" Colonel Young told her standing now on his own 2 feet instead of her propping up against the wall

"For Rush it wouldn't be a burden, he just do it and sacrifice whatever or whoever he had to and not feel at damn" Major Todd told him "It's never going to stop hurting but you can make those decisions and get up and do it the next day all over again because you care because you're that strong leader, a great commander" and with that she let his arms go and he stood on his own 2 feet looking straight in the eye before she walked out and left him standing there. Young looked back on his actions over the last two days since the dreams started and saw that he had forgotten that it was about him it was about the people he commended. It was about as new hopefully soon-to-be wife and daughter they were what really mattered and that he had let himself get caught up in the misery of not being able to protect them so he failed in his duty because of a dream. The weight of command was heavy all who led men and women in dangerous situations knew this, the lives that depended on you, the weight of your decisions all added up but people who really cared didn't stop because of it, made them more determined to face it.

So he got into his clean uniform and washed his face, took some coffee or whatever it was that past as coffee before putting on its battle suit and what going up to the interface room or Major Todd was preparing to reluctantly assign individual duties to a junior officers; Lieutenant Matthew Scott and Lieutenant Vanessa James when they all saw him walk into the room and seeing his much clearer eyes and told standards relaxed as they realise that the Colonel was finally ready to resume command again.

"Right I to assume that we have shields up and weapons armed?" He said looking at Brody and Claire who were on duty at the stations who nodded before he turned to his three officers and told them "Major Todd you will have overall control of the defence the ship should we be boarded. Scott will take charge of the fire teams surrounding the outermost areas of the ship while James takes control of internal security around the more critical areas. If we do get boarded-" but before he could tell them what would happen if they did get boarded the ship suddenly came back to life and jumped into FTL and everyone gave a sigh of relief and Major Todd walked up to her commanding officer and two whispered in easier

"It's good to have you back Sir" she told him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After leaving the control deck Claire went to the secure quarters that where assigned to Ginn and nodded to the Marine on guard before entering the room and seeing the younger woman look up at her with slight fear in her eyes. Claire felt worse than ever knowing that she had put that fear there and result to a self to change that.

"Hello again Eli told me that you were brilliant today" Claire said giving the younger woman some good news and said "Look I was thinking that maybe you would like some lessons on astrophysics. Maybe it might help you with your continuing role in the science team" Claire told her and Ginn looked surprised given the earlier scolding that she had had but hopeful of some more trust she eagerly accepted

"That would be brilliant please" Ginn told her smiling now and Claire smiled back before saying

"Look I'm sorry I was hard before, I must admit my own judgement when it comes to Lucian Alliance is somewhat biased" she admitted before continuing "You are a very good mathematician and I can see the signs of a brilliant scientist in you." Claire said to her giving her a much needed compliment before she returned to the interface room and left Ginn to her thoughts.

As the crew relaxed and went back to their normal duties reassured that finally bit got the right man in command still in the interface control room where Vanessa and Eli as Claire re-joined them when before they could say anything the laptop the Claire had connected up to the Apple core started beeping incessantly and urgently. Claire rushed over to the interface and saw a sequence of numbers being displayed and she momentarily forgot to breathe as she saw what the numerals and location that had been revealed with them to told her.

"Claire what is it?" Vanessa asked her and Claire turned around having now committed the message to memory and said to them

"Who's up for a little exploring? I don't want to ruin the surprise but Eli it would be best if you brought Kino with you" and both of them looked at her surprised but nodded. They both joined her as she went to the lift and programmed in the code that she had now acquired. The lift sprang to life rushing them to the new coordinates that she had input curious as to where she was taking them but decided to wait until they got there. The lift soon arrived this and they all stepped out to face a very ornate door which Claire then press the key code into via a pad next to it and all three walked into a very special room realising that they had at last found the bridge and the key to controlling Destiny itself but then they saw the man sitting in the centre chair and all three felt so angry they could only just stop themselves from throttling the man.

"Well" Claire said her voice shaking with anger "Fancy meeting you here Rush".

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_Sorry for the long delay but only now is my uni workload reduced enough for me to find the time to write and I had to fit some revisions into the stories that I've been writing but I hope you can forgive me and enjoy this chapter._

_Please review and give me feedback on what you thought anyone is free to do so just please don't just post randomly insulting comments but constructive feedback_


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